Reaper Hunter
by IdesOfMarch44BC
Summary: It is 2157 CE and a routine patrol for a squadron of Turian scout ships turns into something far greater than any of them could have ever imagined.
1. Prologue

3rd Person Point of View:

Oftentimes, progress is talked about as though it is constant. Everyone progresses in the same way and any deviations from that path are flaws. It becomes a constraint rather than a motivation. And whenever something completely and utterly breaks that mold, no one is quite sure what to do about it. This feeling of sheer bewilderment was what ran through Admiral Sectus's mind as he beheld the alien ships attempting to activate Relay 314. These ships had no ensignias or markings ever seen before in Citadel space, the designs seemingly tessellated with small plates, and even the material seemed rough and course as opposed to the smooth alloys standard to ships of the Citadel races. As he was inspecting the ships, the scans the crew had been running came back the dire news that this new race was close to activating Relay 314. Panic threatened to overtake him as he realized how close they were to another potential Rachni War. As he had no way of knowing their language, Sectus was forced to do the only thing that may be able to save his ships and perhaps all of Citadel space. "Fire."

#

 **Author's Note**

 **This is just the prologue, future chapters will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 1

3rd Person POV:

Aboard the _SSV Wyvernfire_ , the tension was near crippling. Captain Falkar had been assigned to watch over the scientists studying the mass relay above Shanxi with a detachment of guard ships. Everything had been going fine until unknown ships had appeared from the relay. To their credit, the ships containing the scientists had only delayed a moment before fleeing to the safety of Shanxi. That only left him and the rest of the guard vessels. He had already sent an urgent message to central command on Earth explaining the situation and ordered all ships to aim blast rounds at the aliens. "A safe choice in ammunition when dealing with the unknown" he thought. All they could do now was prepare for the worst and try to reassure themselves everything would be alright.

Abruptly, the aliens proved hostile by firing on Falkar's guard detachment and his ship itself. The rounds fired at the _Wyvernfire_ did some considerable damage to the mixed mediastinum and cosmicite alloy, but they were still in fairly good condition so it was far better than Falkar had feared. Immediately, he gave the order to counter-fire and dispatch frigates to flank the now-enemy ships and catch them in the crossfire. His ships responded accordingly. "We may be outnumbered, but humanity does not give up easily" thought Falkar.

#

Aboard the _Spirit's Will_ , Admiral Sectus oversaw the battle unfurling between his patrol and the aliens. Their kinetic barriers seemed to be serving them well, however the explosive nature of the aliens' ammunition proved considerably effective, but manageable. Already, both sides had lost a few ships. He did notice that their ships had no form of kinetic barrier and solely relied on their bizarre, rock-like hulls to deflect blows. Sectus had every intention of exploiting this and commanded his ships to aim their spinal guns at where he could only assume would be logical spots for their engines and main decks as well as any spot that scans showed to be particularly thin in plating. He had to wonder, though, what material was their hulls made from? Their preliminary scans had showed they were partially organic, so it was unlike anything Sectus had ever heard of other than the Rachni. The mere thought sent dread shivers down his spine.

Sectus then noticed the aliens were trying to flank them. "Peculiar choice in tactic, given that we outnumber them and could simply push through the remaining ships" he thought. "Gallus," he called to a subordinate, "order the rearguard of frigates to advance and counter the enemies flanking maneuver". "We may actually get out of this alive" thought Sectus. Suddenly, that sense of utter confusion Sectus experienced when he saw the aliens returned to him. One of the cruisers under his control was reporting that one of the aliens' shots left frost along the outside of their hull. Frost ammunition was nothing new to the Citadel races, but it was never scaled up to ship size. "What other secrets must these aliens hold" pondered Sectus.

#

"Well frost shot proved ineffective" thought Falkar disappointed. His side was losing, badly. Over half their ships had been destroyed or crippled, and the aliens' barriers were blocking most of the damage from their shots. "Those barriers of theirs will kill us if we ignore them, but how can we breach them" he pondered. He was interrupted when one of his subordinates informed him of several smaller sized ships approaching his flanking frigates. "Sending in the rearguard" Falkar thought. "Tell them to prepare clust and pellet shot and fire on the approaching ships" he said setting his brilliant, analytical mind to the problem of the barriers. Falkar grinned. He had an idea. "All other ships switch to dragon shot" he ordered. The dragon element tends to affect things in varied and unpredictable ways, hopefully it could help here.

#

Overall, Admiral Sectus thought the battle was going well. They had sustained some casualties, but they had destroyed most of the aliens' fleet. Even the rearguard he had sent out was able to fight through the barrage of massive explosions and ineffective shotgun-esque blasts the aliens sent their way. "Thank the Spirits we have kinetic barriers" he thought, realizing how this skirmish could have turned out without them. Unfortunately for him, the battle took a turn for the worse. A shot from an enemy ship slammed into a cruiser in front of him. Its kinetic barrier roiled from the shot sending out a shower of sparks, illuminating the void of space. Sectus was stunned. "How did these aliens develop disruptor ammunition without developing barriers?" he thought in disbelief. Whatever was going on, Sectus knew he had to end the battle quickly. "All ships focus fire on my target" he commanded while signaling what he believed to be their commanding ship.

#

"Finally, we have some luck" Falkar though relieved. The dragon shots had been surprisingly effective against the barriers the aliens' ships had. Even so, most of his detachment was destroyed and the aliens still had about half their number left. Falkar knew they were all about to die, so he made a desperate decision. "All remaining frigates, advance and use wyvernfire on the enemy. Everyone else provide covering fire with clust and dragon shot." His order resounded through the cabin and all were hasty to comply. The reality of the situation was not lost on any of them, but they were going to die fighting. As armaments from the enemy ships began striking the hull of the _Wyvernfire_ , tearing huge grooves in it, Falkar's last thought echoed throughout his mind uncontrollably, "these aliens have made a terrible mistake gaining the ire of humanity."

#

Sectus had to admit, these aliens were brave. Either that, or suicidal as vorcha considering how they threw themselves at his ships spitting huge bursts of flame and explosions. Still, after eliminating their commander the rest died out fairly expediently. He took a moment to check the status of his ships. He had about half his patrol left and two of the remaining cruisers were damaged. Sectus still felt monstrous for starting first-contact by open firing on this new race, but he could not let his emotions rule him, not now. He still had a job to do. "I know you are all excited about your continued existence," he began, interrupting his subordinates' celebration, "but we must begin occupation procedure".

#

To say Admiral Jon Grissom was surprised would be a grave understatement. He had just received word that Shanxi was attacked unprovoked by an alien force and had to report the situation to the Guildmaster Coucil. Worse still, the guards lost the ensuing fight. Grissom was feeling many things, but mostly: shocked, horrified, and above all pissed. "If these aliens want a fight, they'll get one" he thought. "By my honor as a hunter, I'll make sure of it."

Appendix: A History of Humanity

Humanity had done well, all things considered. Despite all the creatures native to Earth, they had stubbornly persisted. After the outbreak of the wyvern virus, the Hunter's Guild gained significant influence among every leadership on Earth as they were the only force able to repel the maddened beasts it created. However, even its resources were limited and if the hunters failed to stop the oncoming wave of corruption and virus, they would all die. So, a major risk was taken by many leaderships of Earth. They gave the Hunters Guild their utmost support in a union of sorts and formed the Guildmaster Coucil to as the central power in the Hunter's Guild. This added authority proved to be a successful gamble as it gave the Hunter's Guild enough power over commissions to nearly eradicate the Magalas and capture or quarantine the rest.

This unlikely victory did not mean humanity was completely safe, though. There were still many dangerous beasts around, but none as relentless and powerful as the Elder Dragons. They have seemingly supernatural abilities that humanity still cannot quite figure out, and most bear a strange antipathy towards humanity for grudges so ancient only they can remember them. All humanity knows comes from the deciphered texts written by the ancients. They speak of a great war with the wyverns, particularly the Elder Dragons. And so, humanity fought once more against them.

Driven by the passion of their ancestors, individuals arose to challenge the once-proudly unmatched Elder Dragons. The first of them died horribly, but eventually even the Elder Dragons were repelled or slain outright. Those who managed such a feat became heroes, legends other hunters aspired to be. They became more ideal than man or women. This conflict between hunter and monster, known as the Second Great Wyvern War, ended with the Elder Dragons being quarantined in one large section of Earth. Any and all expeditions into that land have proved unsuccessful and fatal, so attempts have been halted until an indefinite future.

United by the Hunter's Guild, humanity prospered. A new age of technological marvels and natural wonder ensued. This new technology was built on the premise of mimicking the natural capabilities of the flora and fauna native to Earth such as: furnaces designed after the molten core of the Agnaktor or water storage devices modeled after the great water-storing organs of the Plesioth. Nearly every aspect of society was shaped after natural wonders, so it is not surprising that even as humanity advanced to beyond its cradle, Earth, this trend continued. For example, the original engines used by rockets used refined ice nectar as an oxidizer and flashpoint slime and concentrated liquid from cryo sacs as fuel. This technology allowed for such feats as intrepid explorer Neil Armstrong landing on Luna.

Over the next few hundred years, technology developed along the same guideline, mimic the capabilities of terrestrial life with only a few breakthroughs such as permanent bases on Luna and Mars. However, this predicted path ended when trace amounts of a previously unknown element with strange properties was found on Mars. Scholars speculated this may be the source of some of the Elder Dragons' abilities. But far more surprising, a large cache of alien data was found buried beneath the surface of Mars. These aliens were called Protheans and their cache contained information on the newly discovered element zero and uses for it, most importantly in terms of space travel. Humanity quickly delved into this technology and incorporated it into their designs, finally being able to achieve faster-than-light travel.

A year after discovering the cache of Prothean technology, a massive device was found frozen inside Charon, one of Pluto's moons. The data contained in the cache of Prothean data identified it as a Mass Relay, a device capable of using dark matter to warp space and propel ships to distant locations in the galaxy. Admiral Jon Grissom leads the first mixed team of government officials, scientists, and hunters through the relay. They end up at another relay in the Arcturus solar system, 36 light-years away from Earth. Upon exploration of the system, Grissom and his team find that this relay is interconnected with a vast network of others. In response to this information, the leaderships of Earth signed the Systems Alliance charter to further unify them under Hunter's Guild, now renamed as the Systems Alliance.

Humanity began to expand its territory and build a fleet to defend it against yet-unseen invaders. This includes colonies on Terra Nova, Demeter, Shanxi, and Eden Prime. In addition, a space station is built at the Arcturus relay. This station becomes a focal-point for the rest of Alliance space. Meanwhile, two accidents occur on Earth where hundreds of humans are exposed to element zero in a dust form. These people began to exhibit minor telepathic abilities. The Systems Alliance began to investigate whether this was harmful to the affected people and possible uses for it. As humanity continued to expand and study the mass relays, they made first contact with the Turians near Shanxi.

#

 **Author's Note**

 **Dragon shot can serve as a substitute for disruptor ammunition because they both generate fields of energy around them. This energy can then be used to overload kinetic barriers. In the case of dragon shot, that wasn't its original purpose but it can still work.**

 **Mediastinum is another name for gravios cortex. According to Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate/G, gravios cortex is "A stout outer shell, heavier than a carapace. Also known as Mediastinum".**


	3. Chapter 2

Jack Harper had been a hunter for a long time, over two decades in fact. Now his hunting party had been assigned to help gather samples of native wildlife for the scientists stationed on Shanxi. He had thought it boring, even the thresher maw his hunting party had encountered hadn't been overly difficult to slay. All in all, his assignment to Shanxi had been one of the most uneventful of his entire life. Jack hoped that would change as such monotony was quite irritating to a hunter. They thrive in the thrill of the hunt, so patience tends to be a weak point among them. "Patience doesn't keep you alive in a fight though" Jack thought wearily resigned to his current state of affairs.

That all changed when he and the rest of the colonists on Shanxi received the frantic messages from the guard ships protecting Shanxi. They sent dire news of relentless invaders and the swift death they brought. This urgent message was broadcasted through every television, every radio, and every device in the colony on Shanxi. Chaos ensued. It seemed shockingly sudden to Jack how quickly everything changed. What had been a normal day was turned into a scarring experience for many of the colonists and scientists as the reports from the guards grew steadily more nauseating as they heard of their protective fleet being torn asunder. None of them knew why this unknown force had attacked them, and that just amplified the chaos of it all. However, simple messages tend to be the most effective kind, and this was the simplest message of all, "These unknowns want you dead." And so, the colonists and scientists ran and desperately tried to find a place to hide.

The only exception to this was Jack Harper, the resident hunter, and his hunting party. Alongside him he had Treshi, a wyverian man named after one of the two founders of his home, Pokke Village, and Alabaster-a Lynian lady with nearly-radiant, snow white fur. As with all wverians, Treshi looked to be about half-human, half wyvern. He has four-fingered hands, three-toed paws, and scales covering all of him up to somewhere on his torso hidden beneath his clothing. He had donned his prized Guren armor and bore his Brachydios heavy bowgun across his back. The armor was primarily comprised of heavy plates from the Gurenzeburu, and arranged to form near-complete plating over every part of his body. Added to that was a chain attaching the shoulder pauldrons to the casing underneath and spikes on every possible striking surface of the armor that served as a makeshift melee defense if anything managed to get close to him. Brandished proudly behind him was his Dios Cannon+. The Dios Cannon itself is a deadly gun forged from the Brachydios and equally as explosive. It has a relatively short nozzle attached to a thick, crested guard out of which sprouted the handle with blades attached to the end. All of this, except the blades, was comprised of the ebony shell of the Brachydios. Furthermore, the luminescent green slime gleaming on the side of the gun granted it a somewhat alien-looking appearance that most people found oddly unsettling. As if that was not deadly enough, Treshi had further improved the weapon from more Brachydios parts, hence the +, its capacity for death dealing even greater. This gun/armor combination gave Treshi quite the intimidating visage, even to Jack who had known him since they both became hunters.

On the other hand, Alabaster wore a much smaller, more streamlined set of armor. Being a Felyne, Alabaster was significantly smaller than most residents of the Systems Alliance and only came up to Jack's waist in height. She appeared as a bipedal cat with a somewhat more tapered face and pure white fur. Due to her small stature, Alabaster had to use armor and weapons specifically designed for Lynians. She had donned her favored Seregios mail topped with a bladed and spiked helm modeling the beast's head. Her torso armor was comprised of tan, tessellated plate covering the torso and hanging down from there with two brown, jagged lines coming down from the breastplate to the belt. Even though the legs were oddly exposed, that usually did not become an issue because she tended to land on her feet, as Lynians do, and enemies usually aim for the head or torso on such a small target. Finally, on the back of the armor was a series of large brown spikes, more so armor than weaponry, these spikes were meant to deter attacks from behind. Covering Alabaster's head, the Seregios helm she wore looked absurdly sharp for a helmet. The blade atop the helm looked to be a weapon in its own right as did the rim of the helmet. Even the eye slits in the faceplate seemed to feel the need to be as sharply cut as possible. Strapped to Alabaster's back was her weapon of choice, the Caliburn. It looked to be an elegant blade with a golden, intricately designed cross guard and gold forming a small double-loop pattern near the end of the blade. Other than that, the sword appeared relatively simple as it had a straight, undecorated blade almost as long as Alabaster was protruding from the blade. Simple as it was, the design was effective in combat and therefore saw use.

Jack himself bore Zinogre U armor. He felt pride in this because, as the U indicates, this armor was not forged from an average Zinogre, but from its deadlier subspecies the Stygian Zinogre. Jack had further improved the armor by having armor sphere, a supplementary metal meant to better fuse organic material, and had even pigmented it to suit his personal tastes. Covering Jack's chest was thick, dark purple plating with red, iridescent lines coming from it. A strip of this armor hung down in front of him to protect his groin from injury and was emblazoned with a skull near the top of it; perhaps serving as a warning of what would come to anyone who aimed there. His arms and legs were just as covered as his chest with a few plates covering each. Gauntlets, complete with iridescent claws, covered his hands and forearms. These claws looked more than capable of being deadly in combat. Similarly, the greaves he bore had yet more vicious claws attached to them. A single kick with them would be enough to gut an unarmored person. Furthermore, bulky pauldrons flanked either side of his head. They were the same dark purple with iridescent red as with the rest of the armor and had an inward curve to them. But perhaps most notable of all was the helm Jack bore. It seemed styled after a wolf-like creature, the Stygian Zinogre. It was topped with large, ear-like protrusions with more of the glowing red on the inside of them that continued down the back of his head. The faceplate was somewhat sunken into the armor and was nearly expressionless. The only exception to this was the eyes which radiated glowing red. This gave the helmet a look of undeniable intensity and focused rage, just like the beast it was forged from.

Jack wondered why he noticed this in particular, but dismissed it as nervousness. As a hunter, he liked knowing what he was facing before he faced it; now he was completely blind to what these aliens had at their disposal. While the other colonists we finding places to hide, he and the rest of his hunting party stood ready to face whatever may come to invade Shanxi with the ferocity of their ancestors who lived during the Great Wyvern Wars coursing through them.

#

Admiral Grissom could feel the dread of being the bearer of bad news rising within him. He had to confront the Guildmaster Council and tell them that Shanxi had, at least to their knowledge, fallen and they were under attack by an unknown alien force. Furthermore, from the short, frantic messages the late Captain Falkar had sent during the battle, they had a form of barrier about their ships that proved appallingly effective against everything other than dragon shot. While Grissom wanted nothing more than for this entire situation to be fake, he knew what he had to do and, as a hunter, steeled himself to reality and continued onwards towards his destination.

After a short walk, Grissom arrived at the central governing building on the station, the Gathering Hall. It brandished immense spires and shear walls surrounding the compound. Both of which were colored an imposing red and stood significantly taller than any other building near it. Many varied kinds of people trafficked throughout its doors constantly, adding to the sense of importance of the building. These combined to form an overwhelming presence amongst the other more-mundane buildings around it. Still as he didn't have time to gawk at a building he had seen a hundred times before, so Grissom strode confidently into the Gathering Hall.

Within the main lobby of the Gathering Hall, an escort of four armed hunters was waiting for him. Their exotic weapons and armor flagrantly stood out among the mainly suit or dress-clad officials passing by them. The apparent leader of the hunting party approached him. "Admiral Jon Grissom, the Guildmaster Council requires you to report to them immediately." "So I'm told" replied Grissom dispassionately as he was escorted to the briefing room. The trip to it passed in relative silence with the only discernable noises being the faint rustling of papers and murmur of chatter in the background. Upon arrival, Grissom turned to his escort, "thank you for the directions and escort, Hunter…" Grissom trailed off not knowing the man's name. "Anderson" was the response, "David Anderson". Grissom nodded, remembering hearing of the name before and continued into the briefing room.

The three councilors were waiting for him. "Admiral Grissom," Councilor Slade, a wyverian man, addressed him. "We have received word that there has been an attack on Shanxi. What do you have to report on this?" he asked in an impressively serious tone. Grissom began by saying, "unfortunately this report is indeed true. Shanxi is under siege." Before the councilors had a chance to interrupt him, Grissom continued, "even worse, I have received messages from Captain Falkar, the leader of the guard detachment assigned to Shanxi. They have been defeated." "By this you mean to say that Shanxi is now nearly defenseless against a hostile alien force" inquired another councilor, frowning deeply at the news. "Yes." Despite the brevity of Grissom's response, or perhaps because of it, the gravity underlying the statement was not lost of any of the three councilors.

"So now the question is, what will we do about this" Councilor Slade said dejectedly. "We must reinforce Shanxi," Grissom answered. "According to the last report sent by Captain Falkar, there are still nine hostile ships around Shanxi, albeit two of damaged. I suggest that we send a full response team to eliminate or capture the hostile ships around Shanxi, then keep a suitingly substantial guard detachment there." Admiral Grissom immediately answered. The councilors agreed wholeheartedly to this suggestion, as the members of the Systems Alliance were always quick to hunt down threats to their homes.

"Before we send the response ships, what do we know of their technology?" Slade asked. Grissom replied, "We know that their hulls are relatively weak compared to our standard mediastinum and cosmicite alloy; however, they have a form of barrier around them that stops most projectiles. Dragon shot apparently proved effective at overcoming these barriers, but unfortunately by the time Captain Falkar had discovered that it was too late for his team and him to recover from their losses. I would suggest that when fighting troops with these forms of barriers, we open with a barrage of dragon shot then follow with blast shot, which also proved reasonably effective against these barriers. As for their weaponry, these aliens tend to prefer using large, spinal-mounted guns. A single shot from these guns can deal rather impressive amounts of damage given the size of the ship that fired it, however the damage is still manageable and they have a relatively long reload period." "It far better than we initially feared" said Councilor Slade. "We will send a response team immediately. You will lead them as I know you want to." "Thank you councilors," Admiral Grissom replied. "These invaders will come to gravely regret their decision."

#

The Citadel Council was an imposing sight to all who saw it. Its massive columns and many stairs gave off a sense of awe unparalleled by anything surrounding it. This was all nearly lost to the Turian messenger rushing through the Council building at top speed. Her breaths came ardously to her as she entered the main room where the Council was currently meeting. All three of the councilors turned towards the new presence in the room. "What is the purpose of this interruption" Councilor Sparatus said harshly to the messenger. She took a moment to catch her breath, then answered "councilors there has been an incident. A patrol fleet led by Admiral Sectus encountered a new race attempting to open a Mass Relay. This led to a skirmish between them. A full occupation of the colony is currently underway as per procedure."

The councilors looked momentarily stunned, a rare sight. "Forward us the report sent by Admiral Sectus, then you may leave" Sparatus responded. After they had received Admiral Sectus's report of the situation, the Council began debating this new issue. "We must send a small fleet to assist Admiral Sectus immediately" Sparatus began. Coucilor Tevos glared at him, "The Heiarchy's ships attacked a new race without provocation, to their knowledge, and are now trying to occupy one of their colonies, yet you want to escalate this conflict further? Order your ships to return and the Asari Republics will send in a diplomatic team." she replied. "Diplomacy can wait until the situation has been stabilized" Sparatus answered tersely. "You're diplomatic team won't be able to do anything if they get shot on sight." Councilor Valern decided to offer his own opinion, "I recommend we pull the patrol fleet away from their colony as are most likely going to be overwhelmed by a response attack, then have them leave a probe with a first contact message on it" he said dispassionately. "That way we can inform them on where they can meet with an Asari diplomatic team and further losses are minimized." "I agree with that plan of action" said Council Tevos, still agitated. Councilor Sparatus replied "I suppose I do as well, though probably for very different reasons."

"What I find particularly interesting is the technology Admiral Sectus described" Councilor Valern commented while scanning through the report. "What could this mystery part-organic hull be comprised of" he wondered. "The only thing I've ever heard of like it is the plating Rachni ships used. That doesn't bode well for peace with this new race." "I share similar thoughts" Councilor Sparatus answered, intrigued "for example, why and how would they have developed disruptor ammunition without first developing barriers? They would lack a reason to make it or a way to test it." "They lack any reason we are aware of" Councilor Tevos said. "Perhaps there is some other reason this new race needed it. Regardless, we must send the orders to Admiral Sectus immediately."

#

 **Author's Note**

 **Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Due to a computer crash, I lost about half the chapter while I was working on it. Regardless, I have fixed the problem (a virus) and it is unlikely to happen again.**


	4. Chapter 3

The _Spirit's Will_ was filled with activity. On the main bridge Admiral Sectus was giving orders for the remaining ships to prepare to hold off any retaliation force the aliens could muster while they waited for reinforcements. "Hopefully what we have will be enough" thought Sectus despondently. He looked over his current forces: three cruisers including his own ship, two of which were undergoing repairs, and six frigates. The situation was certainly bleak, but not hopeless. All of his ships had their guns aimed at the mass relay, ready to fire upon any alien ship that came forth from it. He sighed, and continued overseeing his patrol force.

In the cargo bay of the _Spirit's Will_ , an occupation force was gearing up. Considering the unknown factor of the enemy they were going to face, every precaution was taken. From their scans of the planet, there was only one colony on it, so the team planned to land nearby it in a rocky, barren strip of land and assault it from there. Most of the Turians equipped themselves with Phaeston assault rifles, but two of them were designated specialists. One chose a Krysae anti-material rifle, and the other grabbed a ML-77 Missile Launcher. As for armor, all of the occupation team decided on Predator M armor. If they were facing the unknown they would prefer to have a decent amount of armoring produced by their favored company, Armax Arsenal.

Vyrnnus, the biotic among the group, approached the captain after donning his assault rifle and armor. "Captain Arterius, do we have any idea what to expect when we land" he asked. Saren turned to him, "We know that these aliens use a strange partly-organic alloy and have no kinetic barriers. Other than that we don't know their capabilities." he said unhappily. "I wish we knew more, but that is all have been able to tell for certain." Vyrnnus nodded, "Considering they haven't even developed kinetic barriers, they shouldn't be too tough." Saren glared at him, his subharmonics a deep warning reverb, "Never underestimate an enemy. For all we know we could be going up against creatures worse than Rachni." Unfortunately, Captain Saren Arterius did not realize the truth behind this statement.

#

On Arcturus Station humans, wyverians, and lynians rushed about frantically gathering a response team to dispatch against the aliens sieging Shanxi. All of them understood the horrible gravity of their situation. Shanxi could be destroyed and the colonists dead for all they knew. Perhaps even worse, this mystery aggressor could very well be headed for them now. Everyone there could only hope for the best which was still unpleasant to say the least. The fleet they had assembled consisted of nearly three times what the guard ships had, and this time they knew about the effectiveness of dragon shot against the aliens' barriers. In total there were: a dozen frigates and fighters, several cruisers, and even a mighty dreadnaught.

Admiral Grissom oversaw this with the cold, merciless patience of a predator. He was content to wait until the response team was ready for departure, but when that was done they would come crashing down on these alien aggressors like the masterful hunters they were. Grissom's fellow hunters had the same calm rage in their eyes standing, not aggravated, but ready to fight. Each of the hunters was supplied with a fighter ship to best capitalize on their innate abilities. When given the hunters' awareness and mobility, the one-man fighter ships could take out enemy ships much larger than themselves. Admiral Grissom was an exception to this as he would be overseeing the battle in the dreadnaught.

Abruptly, Grissom's thoughts were interrupted as a wyverian engineer ran up to him. "Admiral, the ships are ready to deploy" he said confidently. "They have been loaded with additional dragon, clust, crag, and blast shot." Admiral Grissom grinned. "It's time to show these aliens the might of the hunters and, by extension, the Systems Alliance." He then promptly strode towards the massive dreadnaught, the _SSV Miralis_ , thinking about how he was going to hunt his new prey.

#

Elsewhere, Councilor Slade stood behind a podium in front of many cameras. He was about to give a speech that would be played throughout the Systems Alliance. Councilor Slade took a moment to steady himself, then began to speak. "Fellow members of the Systems Alliance, since the beginning of recorded history we have hunted monsters" Councilor Slade said. He then continued proudly "our hunters were among the greatest in nature. As such, we had a unique relationship with other predators. We killed what we needed to survive, and they did the same. He paused for a moment to let his thoughts sink in. "Oftentimes we quarreled and hunted each other, but neither of us blamed the other. The monsters did not blame us for slaying them just as we did not blame the monsters for hunting us. We were both doing only what we needed to in order to survive." Councilor Slade's voice sounded loudly as his face turned to anger, "however, we then faced an enemy unlike anything we had ever faced before: the Magalas. The mere presence of one of these ebony reavers wrought death and madness upon those unfortunate enough to be caught within their vicinity. These were unnecessary deaths and only served to spread the wyvern virus. Our ancestors fought these unnatural predators and emerged victorious." Councilor Slade inhaled heavily before continuing. "Now, we must do the same. Shanxi has been attacked by an unknown extraterrestrial force."

Councilor Slade tarried for a heartbeat, then rose his voice into a loud crescendo, "these aggressors had no apparent reason to attack, yet they did. This is an affront, not just to us, but to all other alien races they may be out there in the depths of space. It violates all natural reason, and as such these alien aggressors must be laid low like the Magalas before anyone of us can be safe. Everything you have ever loved, every place you have ever been or seen, and everyone you have ever heard of is in peril and will be until we drive this threat from our nation and show them why you don't mess with hunters!"

Councilor Slade took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "The only solution is war" he said dramatically. As he said this bold declaration of hostilities, the images of members of the Systems Alliance ran through Councilor Slade's mind. What might they be thinking of this? How scared might they be? He knew what he had to say next. The datapad with his masterfully crafted speech fell from Councilor Slade's hidden hands to the podium with an inaudible thud, and he made no move to retrieve it.

"I realize the gravity of what I ask," he began "however not all is as hopeless as it may seem. During the battle between the ships guarding Shanxi, they destroyed many of the enemy ships. They were not outmatched, only outnumbered. We can win this war" Councilor Slade said fiercely. He sighed and continued, "my deepest condolences go to the families of the deceased. Let us avenge our fallen brethren and, through the ferocity and might of our hunters, win not just this war but every one after." With that, the transmission ended and every citizen of the Systems Alliance was left to process what Councilor Slade had decreed. None of them quite knew what would happen next, but they all knew one thing. These aliens would die.

#

Jack Harper had been watching them for a while. The aliens had landed near the colony and Jack took the opportunity to study. They appeared to be of avian descent with prominent fringes taking up much of their upper bodies and most of them had crests curving backwards from their heads. "Possibly a distinction between males and females" Jack thought offhandedly. The only other notable physiological trait he could tell through their armor was their talons. From his vantage point he has estimated that the hand talons were approximately an inch in length with the foot talons about double that. They didn't appear to be too sharp, so Jack considered them tactically insignificant.

What interested him more was their choice of equipment. They wore smooth, dull armor that consisted of a black undersuit covering vital joints, a base layer of plating with a green and black camouflaged design serving as body armor for most of their chest, hips, and arms, and thickened plating covering various joints in the armor. This was all topped by an opaque visor with three metal plates coming out the sides of it protecting their heads. "All in all a fairly general build meant for any situation" Jack mused. While this was interesting, there was one detail about their armor that confused him to no end: they all wore the same armor. "Why don't they have custom sets of armor? Perhaps there is a standard set for all of them" Jack guessed. Their weapons were somewhat better with there being a little variation, but even so all but two of them had non-identical weaponry and, from what Jack could tell, they all bore an alien form of bowgun. As strange as this was, it wasn't overly concerning to Jack. The machine following behind them was. It looked like some form of bizarre, flying fish. Its main body shape was that of a fish with a curved back, horizontal tail fin, and dorsal fin. Besides that, it had: two highly linear wings coming from the sides of it, jets facing forwards and backwards and on the wings, and a multitude of guns. "For all I know, it could be modeled after some creature on their home world" Jack thought interested.

Jack cleared this from his mind, he needed to concentrate. Jack had already given orders to Treshi and Alabaster. Treshi was to sneak behind them and fire all he had at the strange machine while it waited for the melee to disperse to fire, and Alabaster was to hide behind a rocky outcropping ahead of the aliens and join the fray once Jack ambushed these unlucky soldiers. As for himself, he crouched atop a high cliff face overlooking where the aliens were passing to get to the colony, ready to start the ambush. Given their probable avian heritage, it was likely that they had excellent hearing, especially at high frequencies. While this did mean they would have to be careful about not making any noise, it also played to their advantage. Jack kept a sonic bomb in one his clawed, gauntleted hands and had the other ready to tear into his newfound prey. Using clawed gauntlets was a strange choice for a hunter, but the primal ferocity of it suited him well so he continued doing as such.

As the aliens got closer and closer to his designated ambush position, Jack took deep breaths to calm himself. His strategy assumed too many things for his liking, but it was still the least risky. These aliens could have poor hearing making the sonic bomb useless, they might be suicidal or dispassionate enough for that machine following them to fire into the ensuing melee, they could even be entirely unaffected by their weapons. He and his team might rushing recklessly to their demise, but they were hunters and they would do it anyway. As soon as the clueless aliens reached the ambush position, almost completely underneath him, Jack took a step forward into the unknown.

As he fell towards his prey, Jack estimated how much time he had before he hit the ground.

 _20 seconds_

Jack relished the feeling of the wind rushing past him. He prepared to throw a sonic bomb down at them.

 _15 seconds_

Jack was now close enough to notice that none of the aliens had noticed his descent yet. He was always amazed how rarely people look upward.

 _10 seconds_

Jack looked over to Treshi and Alabaster and nodded to each of them in turn, telling them to be ready to spring the trap. He then braced for impact.

 _5 seconds_

Jack threw his sonic bomb downward and prepared to lash out with one set of foot claws. He almost laughed at the aliens' very obvious signs of surprise.

#

Alabaster saw Jack's descent towards the alien infantry. She nervously pawed the ground. So many things could go wrong with this plan. The aliens could be far stronger than them, one of those thresher maws could show up, even so much as one of the aliens looking up could have serious repercussions. Maybe she's just worrying too much. Alabaster could not know for certain and that bothered her ceaselessly. Whatever the case, she planned to support her Jack and Treshi as best she could. They were a team, and that is simply what they did. As Jack fell, she tensed herself to pounce on the closest of the alien soldiers. The unfortunate soldier would never know what hit him, but that was simply the fate of her prey.

#

Treshi had learned to trust his instincts a long time ago. And now, his instincts were telling him that something was going to go wrong with this plan. He didn't know what or when, but he knew. "Whatever it is" he thought gruffly "we'll overcome it like we always have." Even so, he couldn't help but feel strangely nervous as he loaded a clust shot into his Dios Cannon+ and sighted the machine following the alien infantry. Treshi saw the melee commence, offered a quick prayer to his ancestors, and fired.

#

Saren Arterius thought the occupation was going well. His team had landed near the colony and was moving out towards it followed by a Mantis gunship. All in all, fairly overkill for a small colony. Then he discovered just how fast a fight can change. A horrendous noise shrieked out from the middle of the soldiers, immobilizing them as they clutched their heads in pain. It sounded like the most piercing scream Saren had ever heard and the sound reverberated loudly in his head. Thankfully, the source of that sound dissipated quickly. He then looked up to see what could have made that, only to witness one of his soldier's head get savagely ripped off by the lashing foot claws of a falling creature. The severed head came rolling to Saren's feet, but he didn't notice. He was too busy trying to make sense of the alien that stood before him.

This alien looked absolutely feral in a way that even vorcha failed to emulate. Its entire body was covered in spikes and claws and screamed of violence and ferocity. The thick plates protecting it it looked menacing with iridescent red lines glowing between them. The thing's claws seemed to radiate with the same glow and looked sharp enough to tear through the Predator M armor he wore. But the most terrifying aspect of the creature was the face. Sunken into its head, the alien's face was entirely expressionless with the only feature being its eyes. Those eyes glowed with a uniquely calm rage, like a roiling volcano waiting to erupt. They promised death to its enemies and by the looks of the rest of it, this alien made good on that promise. Had Saren and his team been of any other military, they may very well have turned and ran.

But as it was, the death of their comrade spurred the turian soldiers into action. However, all they raised their rifles to fire two of them died. One fell to the vicious claws of the beast that had landed on the first casualty and the other to a small, furred creature leaping upon him and driving its blade through his heart. "Back away, keep firing" Saren shouted angrily. These primitives would pay dearly for the deaths of his soldiers. Unfortunately for him, these aliens were relentless and kept slashing at the Turians. Just when Saren thought the situation couldn't get any worse the Mantis, which was waiting for an opportunity to tear the attackers to bits with its guns, suffered a direct hit. An explosive shell hit its left wing damaging the engine on it and sending it careening to the side. "Damn it, whatever that was will blow us all up if we don't stop it" he thought grimly. "Orinia," Saren called to his Lieutenant "take charge of this fight, I have to stop us from getting blown up from behind." Saren then sprinted to find what had taken out the Mantis.

#

Vyrnnus was having a bad day. First he had to subdue some primitive colony on the borders of council space, then he saw his fellow soldiers get ripped to shreds, and now he was stuck fighting a killer furred thing under a third his height. "If this creature wants a fight, it'll get one" he thought gravely. As it did its strange scamper/pouncing towards him, Vyrnnus sent a biotic throw at it. The creature seemed surprised if the oddly endearing noise it made as it got knocked backward was any indication. Seeing a moment of opportunity, Vyrnnus opened fire on the downed creature. These shots ricocheted off its strange, scaled armor.

The small alien scrambled to right itself, much to Vyrnnus's dismay and started making clearly angry sounds at him. As he brought his biotics to bare against the alien, it did the unexpected. This feline creature, judging from the exposed legs, burrowed into the ground like a tiny thresher maw. At this point, Vrynnus stopped trying to understand what was going on. Vyrnnus formed a singularity where the creature was to try and pull it out of the ground, but the attempt was in vain. He growled under his breath as he searched for any sign of the alien. This search was interrupted by the alien practically jumping out of the ground from behind, landing a slash across the back of his leg in a hamstringing move. Vyrnnus shouted in pain as his now crippled leg brought him to the ground. The tiny alien that bested him was his last sight before passing out.

#

Saren saw him. The alien that had shot the Mantis's left wing was crouched in thick shrubbery to the side of where they had passed, undergoing an apparently lengthy reloading process . "Must have moved there after we passed" he thought grimly. This alien wore even stranger armor than the other two! "Why did they feel the need to have so many spikes on it" he thought in confusion. Dismissing the thought, Saren raised his assault rifle and open fired at the hidden alien when he within short range of the alien. It looked over surprised as the bullets ricocheted of its armor and hurriedly tried to finish reloading its gun.

Disappointed, Saren continued his sprint and slammed his shoulder into the alien could aim its overly large, disturbingly iridescent gun at him. Both of them were knocked prone and their respective guns were knocked away from them. As Saren stood, rolling his shoulder at the impact, he noticed that his upward-driven shoulder had knocked the alien's bestial helmet off revealing its pale, fleshy face and fur-covered head. He also noticed that there was a very angry alien with a long knife charging him. Saren tried to draw his sidearm and combat knife, but the alien was surprisingly fast and knocked the M-9 Tempest out of his hand while yelling in its strange, guttural language. And so, the knife fight began.

While they were trading lightning-fast slashes and stabs, Saren couldn't help but notice the alien's eyes. They held a ferocity he had only ever seen in cornered varren. It was a ferocity that drove each of his strikes to be impossibly strong and made him ignore the pain and exhaustion of battle. "Spirits," thought Saren "what kind of creature have we picked a fight with?" As the duel continued, it became clear to Saren that he would die unless a miracle saved him from the wrath of this alien. He let out a heartfelt thank you to the Spirits when he saw the Mantis stabilizing itself out of the corner of his eye. Saren threw his knife forwards and jumped back.

#

Jack ran. He and Alabaster had heard Treshi yelling for help while they were finishing off the alien squadron. They had then started rushing to the sounds, tearing through the final few aliens who stood in their way. While they ran, Jack and Alabaster watched terrified as their marksman friend, missing a helmet, fought an alien combatant in close quarters with his hunting knife. When the horrendous machine that was following the aliens righted itself, Jack sprinted towards it faster than he had ever run. The hovering machine only had time to fire one rocket before two furious hunters tore into it. The alien war machine didn't last long after that.

When Jack turned to see the effects of the rocket, he saw a nightmare. Treshi was lying on the ground among a puddle of blood with singed armor and the alien was leveling a rifle of some sort at the two of them. Jack barely registered Alabaster pouncing out of the ground behind the alien as he ran toward his prone friend. For the first time in his career as a hunter, Jack was scared. When he reached Treshi, that fear turned to horror. Treshi was dead if the lack of a head proved anything. He was dead and there was nothing that medicine could do to save him, not even the potent potions their ancestors developed. "We have to round up the still living aliens for interrogation" he said bitterly. "We still have a duty to the Systems Alliance to find out as much as we can, and by our ancestors I will get answers!" Jack all but snarled at the aliens.

#

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just to address one change, I have changed the rating of the story to M because I'm somewhat uneasy calling descriptive infantry combat as anything but that.**

 **Moving on, I do realize that using your armor as a weapon is not a valid tactic for hunters, but given that the Stygian Z armor has claws built into it I think it makes some sense. Besides, it would be hard to wield a weapon with large claws on your hands.**

 **Finally, to answer a question that came up (I am listing a truncated quotation rather than the full comment):**

 **"** **will there be monsters from the Frontier Series and will there be any halk's and will there be any monster riders and will any of the monster be genetically modified to be pets/partners for the other races like Zinogre" (1v2)**

 **I will be including some content from the Frontier Series where it is appropriate such as Treshi's Guren armor. However as halks are only available in Frontier games, only certain hunter will have them. For example, a hunter from Pokke Village would not have a halk, while a hunter from Mezeporta would. As for the monster riders and genetically modified monsters, I currently have no plans to include either of them.**

 **I believe all the other questions that came up, such as "where are the Lynians(Felynes, Melynxes, etc.) and the Wyverians" (1v2) are self-evident.**


	5. Chapter 4

This was it. Today was when he would earn his g-rank medal. All he needed to do was slay a particularly tough Seltas. Despite their reputation as weak relatively-small insects, it was strong enough to be considered g-rank and was of the desert subspecies, so John wasn't taking any chances. He had checked all his gear several times on the shuttle trip to the desert where it was last spotted. Among this gear was: potions to heal him, flash bombs to force the Desert Seltas to land if it took flight, his hunting horn to call for help or to say that the fight was over, and his weapons and armor. He wore full green plate-mail forged from the scales of a Rathian he hunted. The metal plates and green scales covered the entirety of his body, ensuring there was no exposed point on him. On his back, proudly brandished, was a long polearm that was Shepard's weapon of choice. It had a long, single-edged, curved blade attached to Rajang bone. Some of the beast's fur was used to further connect blade and hilt. Given its razor-sharp edge and how many monster it had slain in Shepard's skilled hands, it was known as the Demon Halberd. As it was made from Rajang materials, the blade had electricity running along it ready to lash out at whatever it struck.

Shepard thought of how far he had come. "Born into a life of petty crime on Earth, only to be saved by a hunter I tried to rob" he thought looking up at said hunter. His name was Steven Hackett, and he looked as intimidating as ever with a longsword and armor made from the mighty g-rank Brachydios. Despite this terrifying appearance, Shepard looked at him fondly as a father of sorts. After all, he had taken him in as an apprentice and trained him until now when he would become a g-rank hunter himself. John would not fail him.

With a muffled thud, the shuttle landed in the sand. Hackett looked up at John, "time to prove yourself, kid. You've got 50 minutes to slay the Desert Seltas and signal as such starting now." He watched proudly as Shepard ran out of the shuttle and began tracking the creature with all the skill befitting a g-rank hunter.

#

Admiral Grissom stood grimly at the front of the _SSV Miralis_. The response fleet was about to enter the space around Shanxi. "Final checks" he called aloud, "make sure all the ships are ready for combat". "Affirmative, sir" Executive Officer, Xavier Hellmann, replied after a moment of pause. "Good, let's give these aliens hell" Grissom thought. Then, the ships arrived at Shanxi.

At first, Grissom was stunned. "They only have nine ships here? Why wouldn't they send a greater force in an invasion" he said confused. A rare grin appeared on his face. "All the better for us then, I suppose." Grissom commanded his ships forward, heedless of the enemy fire directed at them, all the while with all the fierce determination of an apex predator in his eyes. His frigates and fighters danced around the shots fired at them, while the cruisers and his own ship simply weathered the rounds fired at them. As planned, the Systems Alliance ships returned fire with an opening salvo of Dragon shots followed by clust and crag shots. The barriers on the aliens' ships sparked violently when the Dragon shots slammed into them. Most of them were destroyed on that short exchange of bullets due to the difference in number as the Systems Alliance's response fleet outnumbered the aliens nearly two to one. Grissom relaxed marginally when not long after, the last of the alien ships were destroyed by a hail of bullets.

#

Shepard pursued the Desert Seltas as it limped away from him, many slashes marring its once-pristine carapace. Tracking it had been somewhat difficult given the shifting nature of the sands; however, the fight itself had been blessedly brief. "All-in-all a good hunt to start my career as a g-rank hunter" Shepard thought as he imparted a final, lethal cut to the Desert Seltas's torn thorax. Shepard proudly lifted his hunting horn to signal that he had slain the target, as he had so many times before, when something massive and hard slammed into him and sent him flying into a nearby rock.

As Shepard steadied himself, he noticed two things: one a giant boulder had hit him, and two his hunting horn had been crushed between him and the rock, rending it useless. Shepard turned to face where the rock had come from, expecting to see a beast, but instead saw a mountain of muscle and rage. The monster's mottled green, saurian form dwarfed the rock it had tossed at him. Its legs were pillars of muscles surrounding rock-like bone, its truck-like tail lashed behind it, and its insatiable, slavering jaws let loose an earth-shaking roar at him as its back turned an angry, violent red. Shepard stared horrified as an angry Deviljho rushed at him, snapping its fangs cruelly. Had he been almost any other hunter, Shepard would have turned and ran. Shepard, however, was not a normal hunter.

Shepard prepared himself for the fight of his life and charged forward to meet the enraged Deviljho. It then snapped its head forward and Shepard dove to the right, striking upward with his Demon Halberd mid-roll. The Deviljho took the strike to the head, looking more angry than hurt. Shepard weaved between its legs as it tried to stomp him into the ground, trying to hamstring it but was unable to penetrate deep enough into the monster's thick hide. Unfortunately for Shepard, the Deviljho's tail caught him in the chest and sent him flying backward. He got up groaning from the force of the blow and quickly drank a potion before diving out of the way of another boulder being thrown at him with a toss of the Deviljho's head.

Dashing forward, Shepard nimbly dodged another boulder the Deviljho ripped out of the ground and leapt towards the Deviljho, blade at the ready. As the Deviljho's jaws snapped forward to crush him, Shepard lashed out with his halberd with all his strength. There was a loud cracking sound as the electric blade made a deep scar across the Deviljho's face. The Deviljho backed up, and Shepard grinned, thinking he given the monster pause. This changed however, when the Deviljho let loose the loudest, angriest roar Shepard had ever heard. The already ferocious Deviljho took on a demonic appearance, its eyes as dark crimson as blood and its neck roiling with Dragon energy. "So this is the mighty Savage Deviljho" thought Shepard terrified.

Suddenly, Shepard was filled with something akin to indignation. He was a hunter, an apex predator in his own right and if this monster wanted to challenge him, it would die. Shepard's resolve hardened and he assumed a deadly focus on his target. The Savage Deviljho ran at him, its maw snapping and slavering, and rolled between its legs bringing his halberd to bear against its tail. His blade spun and he performed the mighty Ecliptic Spirit Slash used by his ancestors. The Savage Deviljho's tail hung onto its body weakly by a few strands, before falling off completely. As it roared it pain and rage, Shepard felt his spirit surge towards his foe with his body following. He became a slashing dervish of steel and pain. Every second was a new injury on the Savage Deviljho, every moment more pain. It fought back savagely: thrashing, snapping, stomping, breathing dragon energy, and doing its utmost best to rip Shepard in half for the pain he was causing it, but in the end they both fell, the Savage Deviljho in death, and Shepard in exhaustion. The darkness overtook Shepard's vision as he lost consciousness.

#

Admiral Galvinus waited nervously at the front of his ship, the Dawn's Blaze. He had been sent by the Council with a detachment of other ships to investigate the outcome of the relay 314 incident. Currently, they were waiting for data from a probe they had sent through. "How did this all get so out of hand" he couldn't help but wonder. "We send a patrol fleet to investigate strange activity near a mass relay and now we're on the brink of war!" His head snapped towards his pilot when she called out that the results had come in. In a horrified tone she read out "all our ships were destroyed". Galvinus fought to keep the nervous trill out of his subharmonics. "And of their ships" he asked anxiously. "They're all pointed towards the relay." "If they're not coming through the relay, they must know we're here with guns pointed at it" Galvinus thought. "Message the council; tell them there is a stalemate."

#

Matriarch Benezia was frustrated. Why would a Turian admiral fire at an unknown alien race than occupy one of their planets? Regardless of his reasoning, the council asked her to take a diplomatic team and resolve the situation. With her was her assistant, Asgamia T'Nato, and a team of six Asari commandos. She was distracted from her thoughts when Asgamia nervously asked "Matriarch, how do you plan to resolve this? We are on the brink of war with an alien species we can't even communicate with". Benezia smiling calmingly at her assistant, "there is always a way to resolve a situation, we just need to be creative in how we overcome obstacles. My plan is to send a probe through with a first contact message and the software in our translators. Hopefully, they can understand a message for peace".

"I must say" Asgamia admitted, "the idea of meeting a new race is exciting. What do they look like and what technology and culture might they have?" To which, Benezia's response was simply "let's leave that for when we are not on the brink of war." As the Turian response fleet came into view, Matriarch Benezia sighed. It would be hard to convince the Turians to go along with her and she had a lot of arguing in her immediate future.

#

Admiral Grissom stood on the bridge of his ship, saddened. After they had destroyed the alien ships, they had sent soldiers planetside to liberate the colony itself. When the soldiers got there, they found that the colony was unharmed due to the intervention of Hunters Jack Harper and Alabaster and the late Hunter Treshi. However, after their fellow hunter's death the other two had become obsessed with finding out why the colony was attacked from a people who they didn't share a language with. In the end, both had to be discharged, hopefully temporarily, for mental reasons and Treshi's family had to be notified of his death.

To add to that, after the fight between them and the aliens' ships, nothing of note had happened and they did not have permission from the Guildmaster Council to go through the relay yet. Apparently, they were trying to shore up the other colonies' defenses before launching a counter-attack. So for the time being, they were stuck here. Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the ship. Admiral Grissom sprinted up to the ship's bridge and shouted, "what's happened". "Sir," said his pilot "a shuttle-sized object has come through the relay. It hasn't done much except float there". Grissom weighed the pros and cons of destroying it versus capturing it, and came to a decision. "Send out a frigate to investigate and, if possible retrieve it, this could be a chance to see some of their technology" he said, hoping he was right to follow his instincts.

Elsewhere on Earth, John Shepard regained consciousness with a start. Looking around him, he was in a hospital somewhere with his hunting gear beside him. His gear were replenished and repaired, so he must have been out for a significant amount of time. Shepard sighed and started to rise out of the bed he was laid on, his sore muscles protesting this action. He heard the door open and Hackett rushed in. "Finally, you're awake. Hell of a thing you pulled off, slaying a Savage Deviljho" Hackett said relieved. Shepard smiled at the praise before responding, "thank you, sir. How long was I out" he asked confused. "A couple days" Hackett replied before grinning, "this is yours now" he said throwing a medal to Shepard. After catching it, Shepard's face lit up with surprise. "A G2 medal?" he asked, looking at Hackett in shock. "Believe me, you've earned it."

#

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm finally done with midterms, so hopefully I'll have some more time to write. Anyway, I have several ideas for how the story could go, so I'm going to be making a poll on my profile page about it. I figured that you all might want a say in how the story goes. Let me know what you think about this idea, so I know if I should do it again.**


	6. Chapter 5

"Sir," a wyverian pilot called out, "the scanners are picking up a small object near the Mass Relay." Admiral Grissom head shot up to look at him. Other than the brief fight, more of a slaughter really, of the small invading fleet there hadn't been any action. No counter-strike as predicted, no second assault as anticipated, no order to advance through the relay as hoped. "Describe it" he ordered, eager for a fight to break up the monotony. "Is it an immediate threat?"

"Negative, sir" the pilot replied. "It's a relatively small cylindrical object. There's no apparent weapons on it and the entire design is different than that of the species that attacked us earlier."

Grissom pondered this for a moment. If it was from a different species, it could be good to have allies in the ensuing conflict, and if it was from the race that had attacked them before, it could be a sign for peace. "Hopefully, this is their way of asking for peace" he thought. "It would be quite a relief to not have to deal with an entire space-faring race as destructive as the Magalas" Grissom thought. Considering this, Grissom made a decision. "Send two fighters closer to investigate it" he said resolutely. "If it is safe, bring it back to the ship. Even if we are still at war, at least we'll have more of their technology to study."

#

Shortly afterward, the cargo bay of the SSV Miralis was in a state of chaos. Word had come from Admiral Grissom that a piece of alien technology was being brought in for study and investigation. As such, the ship's engineers were busy setting up various pieces of equipment. While most of them were apprehensive about the whole prospect, one of them was quite excited by the idea of examining alien technology. Greg Adams had helped build the engine of the SSV Miralis, as such he was picked to be one of the engineers maintaining it. "Can't wait to see actual alien tech" he thought. "I wonder if those barriers of theirs were based off of a monster of some kind. One that manipulates the dragon element perhaps?" As Adams was pondering the most probable biomechanics for a monster to form a dragon energy barrier around itself, the probe was dragged into the cargo bay by a few fighter ships and the engineers quickly got to work examining it.

Several hours passed by quickly as the engineering team tirelessly set their minds to the task of identifying the device's function. They had found an information port on it and designed a technology adapter to bridge the difference between their technology and aliens' only to run into another, even more challenging, problem; they couldn't understand any of the files on the machine. Despite this, several key observations were made concerning the content of the files themselves: when examined, two files immediately presented themselves by pinging them. The first contained a string of characters without repetition. These characters appeared in other files as well, so it was probably the aliens' alphabet and possibly numerical system as well. Assuming (and hoping) this was true, the engineers began writing a translation program. While this discovery was enormous in its own right, the other notable file rivaled it in significance as it was a video rather than just text. Currently, Engineer Adams was assigned to analyze it with three of his peers, while the rest continued testing the translator.

Shaking slightly from anticipation, Adams triggered the video to open. The engineers watching the alien message were equally awed and terrified by what they saw. It soon became apparent the Systems Alliance had severely misjudged the situation at hand. None of them could find the voice to speak for a few moments after the video had ended, at which point Engineer Adams could only say "someone get the Admiral."

#

Admiral Grissom scowled as he hurried through the halls of the ship towards the cargo bay, ruinous thoughts plaguing his mind. When a crewmember ran up to him saying, near panicked, that the engineers had found something urgent, Grissom wasted no time in sprinting to the cursedly-slow elevator to get to the cargo bay. "What could have been so urgent that it requires my immediate attention?" he thought darkly. "It could be any manner of trickery on the aliens' part, or a pending invading fleet, or-" Grissom cut himself off. "No use driving myself mad over something I can't yet know."

Finally arriving at the cargo bay, Admiral Grissom was greeted by four nervous looking engineers. One of them stepped forward, "Engineer Adams reporting, sir" he said, obviously disturbed by something.

"What happened" Grissom said, bracing himself for anything. What he received though, was something not even he, with all his experience as a hunter, could anticipate.

"Sir," Engineer Adams began "I'm afraid we seriously misjudged the situation with which we find ourselves." He visibly steadied himself before continuing. "Among the files present in the alien device we found was a video. This not only detailed the race with which we find ourselves at war, the Turians according to our translator, but several other species as well, all of whom are their allies." Pausing at Grissom's slight look of shock, Adams resumed his report. "The scale of this is far beyond what we originally thought it to be. It is massive, spanning the entire galaxy if their codex is to be believed."

Grissom's mind raced with the disastrous possibilities this brought. "By the Black God, if they all attack it could prove a fatal blow!" he thought, scared for the first time since he became a hunter. Before he could descend deeper into panic, Adams interrupted him.

"However, the ancestors may have favored us as it seems that they want peace. At least that is the impression we got from their message they sent." Adams said, still sounding unsettled.

At the sound of this, Grissom composed himself with the regal, yet fierce, bearing of the hunter. "The council must be notified of this immediately" he said, conviction resounding in his voice. "Send me a copy of that message they sent. We **cannot** fail humanity here" he all but roared.

#

Councilor Slade sat with his fellow councilors, whom he had called for an emergency meeting. As soon as Councilors Udina and Keira arrived, he began reservedly "Several minutes ago I received a message from Admiral Grissom, after examining an alien probe they determined we had made a grave error in our understanding of the current situation." Slade looked both his fellow councilors in the eyes before saying "evidently the aliens we fought were of the Turian race, and they have numerous allies spanning the entire galaxy." Slade then prepared for the inevitable outcry from both the other councilors.

"What!" they both exclaimed in unison. While Slade had taken time to mask his terrified surprise behind his characteristic calm and serious face, his peers were only hearing of this now and had no such preparedness. Councilor Udina's expression was more of anger than fear. The man's face was slightly contorted at the indignity of ignorance. They had all been blindly unaware of such a crucial part of this precarious situation, and that infuriated Udina more than anything. Councilor Keira's reaction was framed in stark contrast to Udina's. At the revelation of the scale of the conflict at hand, her brilliant mind set about analyzing and dissecting the possible outcomes of a war with the Turians and their allies. Given her expression, the results disturbed her. Slade took note of all this for future reference, then continued.

"You didn't let me finish" he said, provoking wary and nervous looks from his companions, all of them realizing the gravity of the situation. "According to Admiral Grissom, the video on the recovered probe strongly suggests these aliens do not want to pursue a conflict with us. Currently the engineers are working on translating the rest of the files they found, and as such that is all we know."

"They attack us, try to occupy our colony, then try to ask for peace when we kill them back?" Udina asked angrily. "Either they're cowards fearing death, or they're manipulative cowards who want to stab us in the back" he said. "We cannot actually accept their offer for peace when they probably aren't offering it in any legitimate fashion."

"How do we know that these Turians are the ones asking for peace?" Keira asked, deep in thought. At the questioning looks from the other two councilors, Keira explained "if they have several allies perhaps the others talked them out of war so they wouldn't have to get dragged into it." Having gauged the reactions of the other two councilors, Keira spoke again "I recommend we take up this offer, after all why would they attack us?" she asked. "There's ample resources in uninhabited systems and asteroids, so that can't be what they're after."

"Doing so would put our diplomats at unimaginable risks" Udina protested. "We cannot blindly risk their lives on the assumption these attacking aliens are being truthful."

Hearing this, Slade found a compromise. "They sent us a probe, how about we send one back," he said. "On it we put our translation software and a message permitting them to send a diplomatic ship to us. That way, if they prove hostile still, we only have to fight a single ship."

Upon consideration of this suggestion, the other councilors agreed.

#

Matriarch Benezia groaned as a loud banging sound echoed from the door to her quarters, waking her from her sleep. "Matriarch," she heard Asgamia, her attendant, say frantically. "An unidentified object just came out of the relay!"

Worry filled Benezia's thoughts. "Are the aliens launching an attack?" she thought as she opened the door. While Benezia did not know what had come through the relay, she fully intended to get answers. "Has this object made any hostile actions?" she questioned Asgamia.

"No, matriarch" Asgamia replied anxiously. "It exited the relay, sent out a brief radio frequency, then ceased all activity."

Benezia pondered this. It wasn't attacking, hailed them, and came by itself. "Get me a line to Admiral Galvinus" she said to Asgamia. "I must advise him to retrieve this object."

#

Shortly after, Benezia, Asgamia, and Galvinus stood in the Dawn's Blaze's cargo bay, waiting anxiously for the recovery of the floating object. "I still don't like this idea" Galvinus said bitterly. "Bringing an unknown object made by a race we just attacked. It could very well be a bomb or a spying device."

Benezia looked over at him, slightly annoyed. "I must emphasize again that if this new race meant to attack us, they would have sent ships, not a bomb; furthermore, if they intended to spy on us, they wouldn't have hailed us" she explained slowly, trying to make sure she wouldn't have to repeat herself again. "Besides, this conflict was started by mistrust. The late Admiral Sectus didn't trust this new race to know what they were doing, so he fired at them" Benezia said sadly. "A little trust and goodwill on our part could end this conflict."

At that moment, the Turian ships bearing the human probe returned, bringing with them the beginning of a series of events none of them could have ever imagined.

#

A lone ship flew towards the relay, bearing six occupants: an Asari matriarch, her attendant, and four of her guards. Five of them were incredibly nervous.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Matriarch?" Asgamia asked, shaking slightly. "We're heading to the alien ships alone and we have no idea if this is a trap or not!"

Benezia looked down at her attendant. "That probe they sent said, in no uncertain terms, that they would only permit us to send one small diplomatic ship" she said. "Besides, we do know something about them. The fact that they want to pursue peace means they have no desire to kill us, and will only do so if they feel we are a significant threat to their safety" Benezia said

"But how can you be so calm?" Asgamia asked.

"My life has spanned several centuries, and I have been at the center of many tense negotiations in that time" Benezia replied, smiling softly. "I know my own capabilities."

All the occupants held their breaths as the entered the relay, unknowing of what their fate would be once they reached the other side. The seconds-long travel at unimaginable speeds through the relay felt like it spanned days. Asgamia unconsciously moved to stand a little closer to Benezia. Upon exiting the relay, the nervousness felt by Asgamia and the guards grew into terror.

"Goddess" Asgamia stuttered out, "there's many more ships here than I thought." The front console in the shuttle they were in registered hundreds of ships of completely alien design in front of them. Every single gun of theirs was pointed directly at the tiny shuttle. Asgamia felt like she was going to be sick, regardless of the presence of a matriarch.

Even Benezia felt somewhat disturbed by this development. The shock of suddenly seeing so many nigh-hostile ships with their guns pointed at her was overwhelming even to a matriarch. "This may be the most dangerous mission I've ever been on" she thought nervously. That nervousness only waned slightly when two small ships moved closer to them.

#

 **Author's Note**

 **First of all, thank you Lican and The Writer of Fate for your comments about the spacing in dialogue. It really does help distinguish speakers from each other. If anyone else has any comments about how I can improve my writing, please let me know because it makes this story more enjoyable for everyone.**

 **Secondly, I put up a poll concerning the direction of the story a while back, and it is currently tied at 3 votes for loosely following the Mass Effect storyline and 3 votes for following it somewhat closely. I'll wait a week to see if it is still tied, then close it as soon as I see it is no longer tied.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6

Captain Anderson watched the alien craft with intensity usually reserved only for prey. This case was different however, and his orders had been clear: only kill them if they attack us. Their ships were obviously designed with elegance in mind, quite different than the Turian ships Anderson had seen before.

Upon approaching the ships with a fellow hunter, Anderson opened a communication line with them. "Asari representatives, we are here to guide you to the SSV Miralis where negotiations will take place. If you prove yourselves hostile, we will destroy you" he said warily.

Immediately after Anderson finished speaking came a hurried reply. "We promise we are not here to attack you" a female voice said calmly. "We, and the Turians, simply want to resolve this conflict."

Satisfied with the response, Anderson escorted the Asari craft to the SSV Miralis.

#

"By the Goddess," Asgamia spoke terrified, "what kind of ships are these? It's like the Rachni all over again."

Benezia sighed, as they approached the Systems Alliance ships, the scanners revealed that the hulls were made of an unknown organic material. Now she needed to comfort everyone again. "As you will learn in time Asgamia, fear of the unknown is the strongest form there is" she spoke softly. "Fear not, we are quite safe here."

"How can you say that we're safe where we are?" Asgamia asked nervously as their shuttle begin docking with the alien dreadnought.

"There are always people who would want to harm us" Benezia said. "Mostly pirates, Terminus warlords, and their ilk, however these people have sworn to not harm us unless we prove hostile. As we will not show aggression towards these aliens, if their word is to be believed, of which we have no reason to doubt them, none of these aliens will attack us" Benezia said serenely. "This means that anything that wants to harm us will first have to fight through a giant alien war fleet. As such, we are in quite a safe position as long as we refrain from offending these aliens."

Somewhat comforted by the matriarch's words, though not entirely, Asgamia stood with Benezia waiting for the shuttle to open into the alien ship.

#

Anderson swiftly approached the docked alien vessel clad in full armor and with his charge blade sheathed on his back. He looked around the docking port of the dreadnaught. Other than a few engineers, glancing nervously at the Asari ship, everyone else was either evacuated or hidden with bowguns pointed at the junction between the two ships. A nearly imperceptible hiss of rushing air drew his attention back to the Asari shuttle. Six figures stepped out.

Anderson quickly assessed the aliens walking towards him. Their anatomy seemed curiously similar to humans except with blue skin and the small cartilage growths on their heads. Two of them even wore dresses similar to Alliance make! "Those two are probably diplomats, and given their human-like anatomy probably have no elemental or health impairing abilities" Anderson thought. "Nothing too dangerous about them then."

He then examined the guards they had brought with them. "Those hunters on the ground were right! Their gear is completely uniform" Anderson thought distastefully. "It also looks to be made of some form of metal or ceramic. Amateurs" Anderson scoffed, thinking about the non-Hunter soldiers, "they probably didn't even mine for the metal themselves." Putting these thoughts aside, Anderson approached the Asari diplomatic team.

#

As the diplomatic team entered the Alliance ship, even Matriarch Benezia was shocked by what she saw. Everywhere she looked, there were structures made of bone and wood with only a few traces of metal. "How did these people even get into space?" Benezia thought, stunned at the sight. Regaining her composure, she started walking forward, followed closely by the rest of the envoy, before stopping when she noticed the monstrous figure approaching them from their right.

Everywhere she looked on the creature there were green and silver organic-looking plates and orange spikes. It had almost comically oversized segmented vambraces and greaves, and its massive pauldrons had long, sharp horn-like spikes protruding from it. The creature's face was no less terrifying. It bore a silver protruding face with a spiked cowl jutting out behind it, and on its large brow horns like barbed spines curved upwards. Adorning its back was a gleaming silver shield with black spikes jutting upward out of it and two yellowy gray eye-like segments glowed as though alive and ever watching for prey. Holstered through it was a vicious blade in a similar design to the shield. The handle was composed of silver plates with black spikes extruding out of it like the shield, but the blade itself looked terrifyingly sharp and glowed a hateful red, ready to burn whatever was unfortunate enough to garner its bearer's ire. This nightmarish monster had a powerful build that dominated the attention of the diplomatic envoy, petrifying them as only the baleful gaze a true predator could. (Anderson wears G-Rank Seltas Armor and wields a Rathflame Ubernova Charge Blade)

Noticing that Asgamia was turning ever paler by the second in her peripheral vision and her guards instinctively reaching for their guns, Benezia acted quickly. "Hello," she called out to the creature calmly approaching them, "are you a representative of the Systems Alliance?"

"No," came the answer, rumbling out of the creature's motionless faceplate, "I am a Hunter of the Systems Alliance. If you would follow me, I will lead you to where negotiations will take place."

Noting the masculine tone, Benezia and her cohort followed Anderson through the ship. After passing by more primitive, tribal bone and wood structures, several creatures of varying species, and what seemed suspiciously like an active in-ship bar, they finally arrived at a conference room. Waiting for them were three more terrifying hunters and a Wyverian man.

Realizing he was the representative of the Systems Alliance, Benezia suppressed her initial fear of the three armed hunters and greeted the Wyverian man. "I'm glad we can meet on peaceful terms," she said smiling, "and that we have the opportunity to negotiate for an end to this terrible conflict."

#

"Thank the ancestors they want peace" Councilor Slade thought, relieved. "As am I" he said in response to Benezia's comment. "I am Councilor Aldor Slade, one of the three councilors that govern the Systems Alliance. It is a pleasure to meet you, though a name would be appreciated."

"Matriarch Benezia" she replied. "Now let us get to negotiations. First off, the Turian Hierarchy apologizes for the incident and will pay recompense for the destruction and any lives lost" Benezia said, ever the diplomat.

As she said this, Councilor Slade considered possible courses of action for the future, only one thing stood out as a potential problem to him. "I am glad to hear that," he began, picking his words carefully, "and we can get to the details of it once the overall plan for the future is decided. However, the question of technology remains" Slade said, looking Benezia straight in the eyes. "It is obvious that our civilizations have developed highly different forms of technology," he said gesturing to the carved bone hull of the ship. "I would recommend a brief limit on the technology traded between our peoples, so we could get used to the principles of each other's technology. In particular, anything dangerous, such as weaponry, should probably be limited to some degree."

Benezia pondered the logic behind this statement for a moment before nodding imperceptibly. "That would be for the best, perhaps only allowing engineers to test each other's' technology. Our technology is based highly on the Mass Effect Principle that occurs with element zero" she elaborated. "If I may, what is your technology based off of, it seems almost entirely organic in nature."

Slade grinned at this, "and you are correct" he said, disturbing the Asari present. "While some of our technology is element zero based, such as our FTL travel, most of it is based on flora and fauna native to Earth."

#

"By the Goddess," Matriarch Benezia thought, stunned. "What kind of wildlife do these people have!" After regrouping her thoughts, she asked Slade "how much did you base off of wildlife?"

"Nearly everything other than FTL travel" came the brief, yet indescribably powerful response that would confuse and amaze the rest of the galaxy in the coming years. "For example, we are currently trying to develop a ship-based laser off of a molten serpentine creature named the Agnaktor" Slade said casually.

"Our best engineers can't figure out practical energy based weaponry, but apparently their wildlife can?" Benezia thought, amazed. "The Salarians are either going to be overjoyed or pissed." Deciding this could be an incredible advantage over Terminus warlords and others seeking to take over the Citadel, Benezia said "quite impressive technology, I would be fascinated to hear how they work once they are completed."

The pair conversed for many hours after which, coming to an agreeable peace settlement for the relatively minor conflict.

#

As Matriarch Benezia was reclining in the shuttle on their way back to the Turian fleet, she began reading the Systems Alliance's codex. Remembering their monstrous guards, she decided to start with them.

 _Monster Hunters, commonly shortened to Hunters, are the peak of the Systems Alliance military. To be recommended to become a Hunter, you must be a particularly skilled soldier and have performed some notable feat. After recommendation, the chosen individual is given survival training and sent out into an untampered with environment of their choice (usually one with plentiful vegetation and wildlife), armed with only the clothing they wear. By the end of a week, the new Hunter must return to where they were sent out with the materials necessary to forge their first set of armor and weaponry._

Benezia's eyes were opened wide upon reading this, "They send their finest soldiers to risk death in the wilderness for a week! What kind of savages are these people?" she exclaimed. Shaking her head, Benezia continued reading.

 _A common choice for their first set of equipment is to make it out of the male Kelbi. It's thick pelt serves as the armor, and it's horns the weapon. This tradition is in accordance with the belief among Hunters that they must earn their equipment. Every weapon and piece of armor worn by a Hunter is forged from the monsters they have slain either alone or with a hunting party (usually of four Hunters). The stronger the monster, the stronger the weapon or armor._

"By the Goddess!" Benezia nearly shouted in shock. "These people are crazy. They would send a handful of soldiers to kill creatures supposedly as strong as a Thresher Maw? How are they not all dead by now?" she said to herself.

 _In addition to the power Hunters gain from their armor, they also have innate abilities far beyond the average person. It is theorized that all members of the Systems Alliance have these innate abilities encoded into their genome, but only Hunters hone these traits enough for them to develope into anything significant. These traits include: increased physical capabilities, heightened senses, an ability to gain some of the traits from the monsters their armor was forged from, and extraordinarily fast cellular repair. This minor healing factor takes the form of rapid cellular division, able to stop bleeding (as long as the wound is unobstructed) and prevent impairment due to injury, but cannot close wounds completely. They still feel the pain of their injuries and still require medical treatment._

"We almost started a war with feral super soldiers that fight giant beasts regularly" Benezia said to herself in shock, only now realizing how close the Citadel races were to catastrophe. "With any luck," she thought,remembering the green and silver goliath that had escorted her and her diplomatic team, "these Hunters can help improve Citadel security. Just seeing one would scare people into following the law! Regardless, now that I know how tough their Hunters are, what were those Magalas Councilor Slade mentioned?" Benezia thought, slightly nervous of what she would find.

 _Magala is the general term describing the Gore Magala and its metamorphosed form the Shageru Magala. The Gore Magala is covered in ebony plates, has six limbs (four legs and two wing arms), and uses feelers to sense its surroundings as its eyes are too underdeveloped to be of much use to it. It is infamous in System Alliance history as the monster that nearly led to the downfall of the pre-Systems Alliance civilizations on Earth._

"What could have possibly posed such a threat to these people that it nearly killed them off?" Benezia said quietly to herself. "And do I even want to know what it did?" A sense of morbid curiosity drove Benezia to read further.

 _While it is physically powerful, the true threat behind the Gore Magala is the deadly virus stored in a specialized organ at the base of its neck behind the breastbone. This virus targets the hereditary material of the infected creature's cells, crippling their ability to reproduce and repair damage to themselves. Effectively, the unfortunate creature starts to slowly decompose where it stands._

Benezia felt sick. "How did something that horrendous possibly evolve?" she questioned aloud. Nightmarish images of creatures decomposing because of a virus infected her mind and proved difficult to unsee. Steadying herself, Benezia continued reading the codex entry.

 _Due to the potency of the virus, only Hunters with massive amounts of adrenaline speeding up their bodily processes and the hardiest of other monsters were able to resist this virus (See Apex Monsters). However, even if a Hunter was unable to fight off the virus, their natural healing factor and the effects of the virus effectively countered each other. Other creatures were not as lucky. As they started to decompose, they became contagious through bodily contact and incredibly aggressive due to the fear receptors in their brains starting to decompose. It is also theorized that plantlife is immune to this virus due to their cell walls stopping it from entering the cells. This may also be how the Gore Magala is immune to its own virus._

 _When the Gore Magala undergoes metamorphosis, it sheds its ebony hide and gains a radiant white one, becoming the Shageru Magala. It has even greater control over its virus, to the point where it can create "explosions" of viral particles within an approximated 500 meters of itself, and its physical capabilities are all heightened. The monster's eyes also fully develop at this time. In all, the Magalas may one of the most dangerous monsters that ever existed on Earth other than the Elder Dragons._

"What could be more dangerous than that!" exclaimed Benezia. "The Systems Alliance was right in calling it a monster" she said, eyes widened completely. Benezia's curiosity won out over her reservations about Earth's wildlife, and searched for the term "Elder Dragon".

The codex clinically listed unfathomable beasts from the lightning-calling Kirin, to the baleful Fatalis, to even the mountain sized Dalamadur. Hands shaking out of shock as she read this, Benezia said "there's no way this can be real."

#

Captain Ka'hiaral Balak looked at his screen with interest. A probe he had deployed to follow the recent Turian military mobilization had come back with unexpected results. "A new species," he murmured to himself, "with incredible physical capabilities." Balak chuckled darkly, "even better, they are creating their colonies recklessly, only a few guards for each. This is too good of an opportunity to be passed up," he thought as he continuing reading the files hacked from the Turian computers.

"Charn," Balak called out to his second in command, "message every warlord and slaver who owes me credits. We're going to be making off with a lot of slaves soon."

#

Author's Note

So the poll ended and I have to say, I didn't expect the result. Regardless, this story will be loosely following the Mass Effect storyline. That means that while the major plot points will still happen, any minor plot points and details may be changed, replaced, or removed entirely.

For anyone wondering how the Batarian probe managed to hack the Turian computers and get information on the Systems Alliance, the probe was designed to figure out why the Turians were mobilizing an entire fleet. It found out when their databases were updated with information from the Systems Alliance codex.


	8. Chapter 7

"Breaking news," a handheld radio blared loudly, "a peace settlement has been agreed upon by the Councilors and the representatives of the alien government, the Citadel Council. More information on this is being uploaded to the extranet as we speak."

James listened with rapt attention to this new development as he walked by a television on the way to his job. "By the ancestors," he thought stunned, "we may not have to fight off aliens after all." Being a Felyne, he found it hard to see the actual newscaster with so many taller people in the way, but he got the gist of it. As he enjoyed these happy thoughts, he eventually came to a large fenced-off partition of land.

The fence was made from thick Diablos bone and had razor sharp quills and spines covering the entirety of it. Strapped to the front of it was a sign reading: Beware! Entry is forbidden and will lead to imminent death. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, James opened the heavy lock on the fence's gate and walked within.

Elysium was the first colony the Systems Alliance made in the Skyllian Verge, and in many ways represented the insatiable curiosity of its residents. It served as evidence that the Systems Alliance could find a place in a seemingly uncaring and (until recently) lifeless galaxy. There were few places in the Systems Alliance more symbolic in nature than Elysium. Because of this, the Councilors had deemed it fit to bestow one of the greatest gifts they could upon Elysium: one of the few Kirin ever tamed.

While the Kirin is the weakest species of Elder Dragon, it is still a formidable adversary to anyone that garners its ire. In addition to crushing blows with its hooves and impaling foes on its horn, the Kirin has masterful control over electricity; oftentimes calling down lightning to strike its enemies, as an unfortunate Thresher Maw learned when it got too close to the Kirin's "pen".

Pondering over the strangeness of his life, James walked through the rugged hills in the pen, whistling nervously. When his parents and he were attacked by Jaggi when he was but a kitten, they had killed his parents and were about to do the same to him, when that Kirin arrived. She had been attracted by the noise, and upon seeing what was about to transpire her maternal instincts kicked in and...the Jaggi hadn't lasted long upon being beset by an angry Kirin. His own kind found him later.

As a result of this unique relationship, James was the only person the Kirin permitted within her lair. Anyone else was an intruder and killed on sight. Even then, she barely tolerated other Alliance members living near her territory. Everything else (including Thresher Maws as they had found out) was an intruder. Other than herself, James is the only creature she holds any measure of affection towards.

"Perhaps she sees me as an endearing, impaired child" James mused to himself, before continuing on into the Kirin's lair.

#

Due to the recent Turian military mobilization and the promised statement about it by the Citadel Council, people across Citadel space were watching their favored news stations for information about the incident. Even on small ships mid-voyage people were intensely curious, and somewhat nervous, about what could have provoked this level of response from the Turian Hierarchy. The Honorata was no exception to this.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya sat with her friend and fellow crew member Keenah'Breizh, nervously listening to the news. "Just my luck," Tali said annoyed, "as soon as begin my Pilgrimage, something comes that scares the Turians so much they send an entire fleet at it." She sighed, her suit giving it a metallic reverb, "And worse still, we don't even know what it is."

"It's probably just some ambitious Terminus warlord," Keenah'Briezh said, trying to assuage Tali's nervousness."They should have it cleared up in no time." A news station intro started playing, gaining both the Quarians' attention.

"The Citadel Council has just released a statement concerning the recent Turian military mobilization," an Asari newscaster reported. "Evidently unknown ships had attempted to activate Mass Relay 314 and Admiral Sectus of the Turian Hierarchy responded with standard force. However," the newscaster paused for a moment, "as it turns out these unknown ships belong to an as of yet undiscovered species."

Ignoring Keenah's surprised exclamation, Tali was lost in her own thoughts. "A new species!" she thought, shocked but happy. "That means they won't immediately hate Quarians like most of the other races. Keelah! I could bring some of their technology back to the Flotilla." Interrupting her new plans, the newscaster continued, having wisely paused so people could get over their surprise.

"Thankfully, despite a hostile first contact, war with this new civilization has been avoided." The Asari hesitated a moment before continuing. "However, a mutually agreed upon temporary embargo has been placed on most of their technology as it is almost completely based around biotechnology foreign to the Citadel races." The newscaster again thought to pause for a moment.

"Amazing," Keenah said staring at the screen, "an entirely alien form of technology." Keenah grinned behind his mask, "and they're also not prejudiced against Quarians. When the embargo is lifted, who knows what this could do for the Flotilla." He looked over at Tali, who was still staring at the screen. "Tali, are you alright?" Keenah asked.

"We are _so_ bringing back some of their technology to the Flotilla" she exclaimed, excited at the prospect. They both turned back to the screen when the newscaster started speaking again.

"While they have not been forthcoming with information about this new race, we do know a few details. Firstly, they are called the System Alliance and are actually comprised of a few species with a shared homeworld. Their culture is apparently still tribal in nature," the newscaster said, visibly checking to make sure she was reading the teleprompter correctly, "and they can be characterized by an elite military group of theirs: the Hunters. If their codex is to be believed, and the surviving Turian soldiers have confirmed much of it, these soldiers use a mixture of melee and ranged combat and are most often used to fight giant beasts like Thresher Maws rather than other soldiers."

Tali and Keelah recoiled in shock upon hearing this. After a moment of shared silence, Tali spoke. "Why would they ever use melee combat against a Thresher Maw?" she said stunned. "If anyone else tried to do that, it would kill them in under a second!"

"I'm not sure," Keelah replied equally confused. "All I know is that they're going to make things very interesting in the future."

#

Meanwhile on the Citadel itself, the Councilors were having a private conference. The discussion was too important to allow the public to listen in on it.

"I must say," Tevos began, "that I have some difficulty believing some of this." At the questioning looks from her peers, she elaborated, "I can believe that they use biotechnology, have a tribal society, and even that they fight large creatures consistently. However, creatures that could destroy colonies by themselves, a huge area of land devoted to quarantining them, and super soldiers with healing factors and the ability to gain abilities based on the carcasses the wear?" she said unusually sharply. "That is a little bit outlandish, isn't it."

"Agreed," Valern said with cursory interest. "Fascinating abilities, unfortunately probably legends that seem true. Not actual truth in all likelihood." Valern seemed a little disappointed by this, although still quite stoic.

"Whatever the truth is," Sparatus said annoyed, "it's causing quite the political backlash for me." He sighed, "they claim I'm letting these newcomers take our position as guardians of Citadel space and that I should be replaced. It's as if these politicians are solely concerned with themselves," he joked grimly.

Before any of them could continue, a message from the guards posted outside interrupted them. "Councilors," the guard said, "Captain Saren Arterius is here. He says you sent for him."

"Let him in," Sparatus replied before the other Councilors could. Turning to his peers, he said "if we're are unsure about the abilities of these 'Hunters', why not ask someone who actually fought them?"

At that moment, Saren entered and respectively bowed to Councilors. "Councilors," he said evenly, "you requested my presence."

"You were present during the Relay 314 incident," Councilor Sparatus said while the other two looked on in interest, "tell us about these Hunters. Are they actually as the Systems Alliance describes them?"

"I'm not sure about their lifestyle," Saren began after thinking for a moment, "but they are the toughest and most vicious fighters I've ever seen." Saren unconsciously started speaking faster, "I saw one of them drop off a giant cliff, probably just under 2,000 meters high, land on a soldier, then start eviscerating the other soldiers and even a Mantis Gunship with the claws attached to its gauntlets." Saren shook his head imperceptibly, "those Hunters are monstrous, everything the Systems Alliance codex said about their abilities is true." Saren took a deep breath before finishing with suppressed anger, "they are a massive threat to the Citadel races."

Unnerved by the confirmation of the Hunters' abilities and Saren's apparent hatred of them, Councilor Tevos said "that is for us to decide Captain. You are dismissed."

"Testing necessary," Councilor Valern said after Saren had left. "Both on Hunters and Captain Saren. Was recommended to be Spectre. Apparent hatred for Systems Alliance could be problematic."

#

Shepard was packing his gear, quietly humming to himself. Having donned his new Savage Deviljho armor and with his Demon Halberd on his back, Shepard was preparing to set out searching for a troublesome Thresher Maw near Elysium. Currently he resided on the outskirts of the colony itself and was tasked with hunting all dangerous predators near it. While there was a Kirin's lair in the center of the colony itself, she typically only responded to threats to her own lair, not the food sources for the colony. "Time to hunt that overgrown worm" Shepard thought to himself excitedly. "I wonder what weapons could be forged with its acidic spray." Shepard's musings were cut off by loud alarms splitting the relative silence.

The guard ships are under assault, they ominously blared, evacuate the colony immediately. The message played on repeat thereafter.

Steeling himself, Shepard started running to the center of the colony. Perhaps his Savage Deviljho armor was affecting his judgement; Shepard didn't know, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he would eviscerate these attackers before they harmed anyone else. "I was absent the first time we were attacked, never again!" Shepard thought to himself enraged.

#

Hidden among the shrubbery, James could hear people fleeing the colony in a panic. Everyone had heard the news, they were under attack yet again. Cursing his cowardice, James was gripped by terror of his own mortality now made apparent, and found himself paralyzed in some bushes. "Ancestors, please don't let these aliens find me" he desperately prayed. What would have seemed an absurd request only minutes before now seemed his only apparent lifeline against death, the finest hunter of all.

Eventually, the tide of terrified civilians slowed to a halt as all made possibly their last decision: run or hide. All fell silent until metal split the sky with the sound of blazing air. James saw the alien crafts descend upon the lifeless colony like ominous heralds of destruction, followed by strange figures resembling warped Humans roaming the streets accompanied by rare screams of those found hiding amidst the buildings.

Limbs feeling like concrete, James watched almost uncomprehending as a trio of the invaders cautiously approached the spiked fence, clearly understanding the intent but not the motive.

"Elder Dragon of the Mists," James silently prayed to himself, "hide me with your light-refracting electric skin, let the aggressors be lost in your foggy miasma." As the Batarian slavers pushed past the fence, James's mind buckled under the weight of surreal horror. Too scared to think, James fled, yelling his fear for all to hear. Pursued by the slavers behind him, James subconsciously capitalized on his natural agility. However, when tested against the Batarians' longer legs and increased speed in his panicked state, James's agility lost out. Cornered against a sheer rock wall, James stared into the emotionless faceplate of the armored Batarians. Whimpering softly to himself as the Batarians maliciously approached with raised weapons, memories of the night Jaggi nearly ended him ran in perfect detail through James's mind. The black of the shadows contrasting with the Jaggis colorful hides, their instruments of murder poised to kill, the bright light of his savior's retaliation.

When light flashed in front of him, James thought it was just his memories until the Batarians recoiled away from him. Looking clearly at the struck Batarian in front of him, James saw a vicious burn mark bored through the top of his helmet. Hearing gunfire, James raised his gaze to see one of the remaining Batarians get simultaneously impaled and incinerated on the electric horn of a furious Kirin. Her eyes then looked upon the third Batarian with rage so palpable the slaver dropped his gun in terrified shock. A swift lash of the Kirin's front hoof crumpled his helmet and sent his head flying back with a sickening _crack_.

Moving quickly to James's side, the Kirin nuzzled him briefly before giving him a look clearly saying "stay", before running off seemingly as swift as the lightning racing along her form.

#

Red filled Shepard's vision. In part, it was due to the rage bestowed onto him by the Savage Deviljho armor, however in a much more literal sense it was due to the blood. After a prolonged fight with the attackers, their blood coated his armor and stained the ground a violent crimson. Only then did Shepard calm down enough to think clearly. Amidst the many Batarian bodies strewn on the ground, Shepard sought anything on them that would indicate their intentions for attacking. Finding nothing, Shepard turned to leave when he heard a cry for help.

Running to the source, Shepard was repulsed by what he found: a Wyverian woman in chains. "They are slavers!" Shepard thought, anger roiling within him. "How dare they damn others to lives of misery to serve their own greed" he raged. "How pathetic, how vain is such a practice." Shepard quickly sundered the woman's bindings.

After her chains were broken, the woman spoke hastily. "Hunter," she addressed Shepard, "you must hurry. They took the others to the North." She looked at Shepard, terrified. "Please you must save them."

Taking off his helmet to meet her eyes, Shepard replied, determination resounding in his voice and resolve shining through his eyes. "Don't worry, saving people is part of my job."

#

"Move it, get them into the ship" Charn shouted over the terrified clamor of soon-to-be slaves. He snarled silently behind his helmet. This whole slaving run had become an absolute catastrophe. "This was supposed to be a simple run against an undefended colony," Charn thought. "Then some damned monster started ripping its way through our soldiers." Watching the Systems Alliance members being loaded into the ship, he grimaced. "At least I wasn't in that requisition team" he said to himself as he continued filling out a report on the remaining soldiers and vehicles to the side of the slave transport shuttle.

Hearing abrupt shouts and gunfire, Charn snapped his head up to see a monstrous figure charge into his guards. The base plates of its armor glowed with an ominous crimson the color of blood. Segmented black tessellated plates covered all remaining surfaces on the creature, completely obscuring it. While the helmet was fashioned in a similar way, the faceplate gleamed silver, seemingly trapped between the jaws of a terrible beast due to the structure of the helmet. Most notably about the fighter were the spines jutting out of the torso, arms, legs, oversized pauldrons, and even the helmet. Covering every piece of the horrifying armor, they gave the impression of a violent, malevolent creature gazing out at them hatefully.

Swinging an electric polearm into the Batarian guards, he cleaved through each in a single stroke. Leaving a gory trail behind him, Shepard seemed as though a nightmare had sprung from Charn's worst nights to kill him. As he ran to a landed gunship, Charn thought haughtily "this monster's not going to kill me."

#

Roaring with fury, Shepard slashed a deep wound in the last slaver on sight. "Finally," Shepard thought tiredly, "I've finished them off." About to yell for the captive Systems Alliance members to leave the ship, Shepard abruptly paused at the sound of whirring. Turning on his heel, Demon Halberd raised, he saw an A-61 Mantis Gunship hover out from the side of the slave transport shuttle. "One more for me to take down, then" Shepard said snarling as he readied himself to charge.

Before he could do so, a rocket streaked towards him, and sent him flying backwards. Scrambling to his feet, Shepard kept to the side to avoid a stream of machine gun fire. "Dammit," he growled, "how can I destroy this thing when I can't get close to it?"

Shepard's train of thought was cut off by several bolts of lightning arcing directly towards the hovering gunship and causing its engine to explode. As the Mantis careened towards the ground, Shepard looked to the side to see the resident Kirin charging enraged at the downed gunship. Upon reaching it, the Kirin reared up onto her hind legs before smashing a hoof into the front armor of the Mantis, crumpling it like tinfoil. A second strike broke open the cockpit, exposing the terrified pilot. A massive discharge of electricity incinerated him.

As silence momentarily filled the air, the Kirin looked at Shepard, snorted, then walked back towards its lair somehow seeming smug and pissed off at the same time.

#

 **Author's Note**

 **I have to say, for a while I was trying to figure out how intensely I should write these scenes. In particular, writing about James hiding and being chased by slavers was...hard to say the least. But eventually I figured that such an event would be quite traumatic, so I should try to write it to reflect that.**

 **On another note, I was trying to figure out how people in the Monster Hunter lore could have possibly managed to tame Kirin, and this is what I came up with (as well as why it is so rare)! They've even been able to milk them, which lends credence to the whole "maternal instinct" theory.**

 **Besides that, I should probably mention that there are reasons why Councilor Tevos was unusually quick to dismiss the abilities of the Hunters and why the Hunters have those abilities, however those are for future chapters.**

 **For anyone who is wondering, Shepard now wears Esurient armor from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate with a Vangis X helmet. The helmet is different because (perhaps this is just my opinion), but the Esurient helmet seems to not fit the rest of the armor. That, and the fact the Vangis X helmet is also made from Savage Deviljho materials.**

 **Finally, regarding AzureLux's request to include references to cameos in the Monster Hunter games, I have a few ideas in mind. However, if I do include them the armor and weapons will behave like they do in their original media, not how they do in the Monster Hunter games.**


	9. Chapter 8

Just for reference, I will be using this format in the future:

 **Author's Notes**

' _Thinking'_

 _Reading_

"Speaking"

This is just to help clarify what is being said or thought. Anyway, onto the story.

#

Having just gotten off his shift, Garrus Vakarian sat back in his couch in his apartment and turned on the news.

"The first wave of Systems Alliance technology should be hitting the markets soon," the Asari newscaster droned on.

"Interesting," Garrus said quietly to himself, his subharmonics clanging his voice slightly, "the swords and axes will make for one hell of a show." Truthfully, Garrus wasn't sure what to make of the Systems Alliance. ' _That armor looks ridiculous!'_ he thought distastefully to himself as the newscaster displayed a few of the Alliance guards soon to be working on the Citadel. ' _There's either way too much exposed or it looks so heavy you'd be immobilized.'_ As he continued on his internal rant about armor design, the newscaster paused as if listening to an unheard voice.

Straightening quickly, the newscaster continued in a hurried tone, as though she was struggling to get the words out as fast as she could. "Breaking news just in," she said, almost stuttering, "the Systems Alliance colony, Elysium, came under attack by Terminus slavers and warlords. Evidently, some footage was recovered from a few of the Batarians' helmet cameras, although I'm being warned it's rather...graphic."

Garrus almost recoiled in surprise at this, frowning with his mandibles spread slightly. ' _Spirits, they've been part of the galactic community for about a week and they've already been attacked twice,'_ he thought sympathetically. _'Worse still, I doubt their guards were able to do much with swords and axes.'_ Abruptly, Garrus's doubts vanished as the helmet footage started playing. ' _Damn,'_ Garrus thought, thoroughly impressed, as he watched an armored Shepard tear his way through Batarian slavers. "They're as savage as Vorcha," he said to himself as a Batarian was bisected by Shepard halberd, "except they're actually competent." The next several seconds showed the demise of a Batarian slaver desperately firing at Shepard as he ripped apart the rest of the slaver's squadron in a dervish of blood and steel, only for the bullets to ricochet off of the Savage Deviljho armor. The footage ended as the Batarian tried to run, only for his head to roll to face his body.

The newscaster seemed even more shocked than Garrus. "Goddess," she whispered horrified, "I was told the other recovered footage is of livestock, so hopefully it's less violent." Those hopes died quickly after she started the next piece of footage.

The Kirin's battle against the majority of the Terminus forces dominated the attention of audiences throughout the Citadel races. ' _How?'_ Garrus thought weakly as he watched the spectacle. Every flick of the Kirin's head was another Batarian impaled on its horn, every kick another skull crushed underhoof, every glare another slaver incinerated by lightning. The Kirin seemed as swift as the electricity she commanded and no slaver escaped her ire. All of this was filmed from the cockpit of an Atlas mech, constantly firing at the Elder Dragon. While the mech's machine gun proved almost as ineffective as the foot soldiers' munitions at penetrating the Kirin's scaled hide, although it's rockets did minor damage to the Elder Dragon. Members of every species across the Citadel races, even Krogan, jumped slightly when the Kirin turned to face the mech. Lightning ripped open the top of the mech's chassis as the Kirin charged it. The Batarian's arms came to cover his face when the Kirin's hoof slammed into the mech's front fast enough to trigger the kinetic barriers, the impact resounding as loud as thunder. Slowly removing his arms from his face, the Batarian saw the Kirin glaring at him balefully, her rage unrestrained within her eyes. The sharp crack of electricity was heard, and the camera went black.

No one spoke for a moment, not the newscaster, not the audiences across the Citadel races, not even Garrus. Abruptly, Garrus broke the disbelieving silence by shouting "they have that as livestock!"

#

Councilor Slade frowned, considering various courses of action as he made his way towards the Citadel Council. In light of recent events regarding the attack on Elysium, he had requested a meeting with the Citadel Council which, given the strong reactions members of the Citadel races had to the footage of a Hunter and Kirin, they were quick to accept. Finally arriving at the Council chambers, Slade steeled himself before heading in. He was met with the three councilors and the Batarian ambassador, Jath'Amon, standing before them.

"Ah, you've made it," Councilor Tevos said calmly as he approached. "I'm sure we all have questions."

"Yes, such as why our colony was attacked by Batarians!" Slade said angrily. "With the Turians it was an honest misunderstanding, but the Hegemony blatantly attacked us here."

"That is a baseless assumption," Jath'Amon replied indignantly. Turning to face the Citadel Councilors, he said "you all know the Hegemony is separate from the Terminus warlords and slavers."

Councilor Sparatus nodded slightly, then looked at Slade coolly. "What he says is true, we have no reason to suspect the Batarian Hegemony is responsible for the attack."

Pausing briefly, Slade thought over this information. ' _The Batarian Hegemony practices slavery,'_ he thought with a mental snarl, ' _so they must be getting the slaves from somewhere. As it would be highly illegal for them to send slavers into Citadel space to capture people themselves, they probably rely on these Terminus slavers to do it for them.'_ With a small, vindictive grin, Slade looked Jath'Amon straight in the eyes. "In that case, I'm sure you would have no problems with us retaliating against these Terminus slavers."

' _Shit,'_ Jath'Amon thought darkly, ' _that would inconvenience our supply of slaves.'_ Looking away from Slade towards the councilors (who were looking on with feigned disinterest), Jath'Amon quickly voiced his dissent. "Councilors you cannot let the Systems Alliance invade Terminus space," he began, "it would prompt the slavers to launch an attack into Citadel space. Besides, that is an area of Batarian interest."

"Launching attack on Citadel space while fighting Systems Alliance would be unwise of Terminus slavers" Councilor Valern commented. Before the Batarian Ambassador could reply, Valern continued. "Additionally, Batarians have 'areas of interest' covering most of space not owned by Citadel races, even some Alliance territory. Batarian area of interest not our concern."

"I have to agree," Sparatus said, spotting an opportunity to lessen the Hegemony's political influence. "The Batarian Hegemony claims almost the entirety of space not belonging to Citadel races. The term area of interest' is meaningless."

Scowling at the councilors' decision, Jath'Amon angrily said "very well. If that is the only issue concerning me I will return to my other business." As he stormed out of the Council Chambers, he thought ' _I must warn the Hegemony! The Systems Alliance will regret this,'_ his scowl shifting into a smirk as he imagined all the ways the Hegemony could get back at the Systems Alliance.

Sighing as Jath'Amon left, Councilor Tevos redirected her attention to Slade. "Other than the attack on Elysium," she said remembering the armored Shepard slaughtering Terminus slavers, "it has come to our attention just how different our technologies are."

Sparatus continued where she left off, "because of this we ask permission to plant an agent of ours on one of your ships to inspect this technology before we allow it to be freely traded in Citadel space."

Noting the dispassionate tone in his flanged voice, Slade said evenly "I'm guessing there is a secondary motive to this as well. If you only wanted to inspect our technology, you could have just requested some of it."

"Correct," Valern said with an miniscule grin, "also matter of security and Systems Alliance integration into galactic community."

Slade's eyebrow rose. "How so?" he asked.

"The abilities of your Hunters are...impressive" Sparatus said, subharmonics nearly betraying envy. "As such it would improve the security of Citadel space to have one as a Council Specter, as well as help the Systems Alliance integrate into the Citadel races."

Only through sheer force of will refined over decades of politicking was Slade able to keep his jaw from loosening. ' _Ancestors,'_ he thought surprised, ' _they must truly be desperate to secure exclusive access to our tech.'_ Remembering the leaked footage of Shepard defending Elysium, Slade smiled and said, "I have an idea for a candidate."

#

Hushed shouts of surprise filled a sterile bio-lab on Sur'Kesh as STG agents worked to understand the new biotech brought by the Systems Alliance. Among them was Mordin Solus, a brilliant Salarian biologist and doctor currently tasked with reproducing the Systems Alliance's medi-gel. As he worked, guards and colleagues could only guess at what he must have been thinking at his discoveries.

' _I am the very model of a scientist Salarian...,'_ he quietly hummed to himself as he read a segment of the Systems Alliance codex, waiting for a culture analysis of sample Earth flora to finish. Mordin's internal singing was interrupted by a small chime signalling the analysis was complete. "Ah, as expected," he said sounding satisfied, "herb fibers have unusually large vacuoles, effective for drawing in and storing liquid. Coated in natural mushroom resin and honey, preventing herb fibers from stiffening with liquid intake and creating gel, colored green from shredded herb fibers sticking together. Apply to wound, honey and resin removed by blood flow, polymers comprising herb fibers stiffen due to vacuoles expanding with blood, stick to torn body polymers due honey and mushroom resin."

Looking at his results with a content smile, he continued his personal monologue. "Conclusion: rapidly forming gauze. Brilliant usage of natural resources for then primitive species. Curious that they discovered it prior to knowledge of chemistry." Mordin pondered that thought for a second, before continuing with his next project, internally singing all the while.

#

The now famous (or infamous to some) Shepard waited in an Alliance docking bay on Arcturus Station among a plethora of other elaborately armored Hunters. A message had been sent to all G-rank Hunters, saying that they were needed for an invasion of the Attican Traverse. ' _Finally,'_ Shepard thought darkly, ' _I'll be able to avenge the colonists who died.'_

His thoughts were interrupted by an intercom relaying instructions to the Hunters. "You have all been sent a list of your hunting party members for this assault" a commanding voice said through the speakers. "Report to the indicated ship to form up with them."

Looking at his omnitool, Shepard saw a list of names and accomplishments. Quickly scanning over them, he grinned savagely at what he saw.

 _Assigned Ship: SSV Normandy_

 _Party Leader: David Anderson_

 _Equipment: Full Seltas X Armor, Rathflame Ubernova Charge Blade_

 _Native Region: Dundorma_

 _Accomplishments: Served as a Guardian to the Elder Hall for three years before becoming a Hunter, Served on one of the ships in the counterattack of the first contact war, Slew a G-rank Rathalos_

 _Party Member: John Shepard_

 _Equipment: Esurient Z Armor, Great Demon Halberd_

 _Native Region: Yukumo Village_

 _Accomplishments: Defended Elysium from Terminus slaver detachment with aid from a resident Kirin, Slew a Savage Deviljho prior to obtaining G1 rank_

 _Party Member: Ashley Williams_

 _Equipment: Full Varia Suit, Arm Cannon (Attached to Varia Suit)_

 _Native Region: Mezeporta_

 _Accomplishments: Retrieved enough ancestral weapon data and defense modules to create pre-First Great Wyvern War armor and weaponry, Tamed a Dragon Halk (named Eclipse), Slew a G-Rank Seregios,_

 _Party Member: Kaidan Alenko_

 _Equipment: Plesiperse Spike, Lagiacrus Z Armor_

 _Native Region: Moga Village_

 _Accomplishments: Renowned for mastery over underwater combat, Slew a G-Rank Lagiacrus_

 _Other Notes: Can use biotics_

As he started to walk over to the SSV Normandy, Shepard thought about the other party members. ' _David Anderson, I've heard of him'_ Shepard thought excited as he passed by fellow Hunters. ' _If the stories of his feats are half true this will be a hunt to remember. The others seem just as interesting, thankfully.'_ Gaining sight of the ship, Shepard hurried his pace.

When he arrived, four people were already there waiting, resplendent in their exotic armor. Having already seen Anderson's armor in promotional ads, Shepard recognized his imposing, behemoth-like green and orange Seltas X armor, but the other three were unfamiliar. Standing in front of Anderson were two other Hunters.

The left one wore primarily blue and silver armor with orange highlights. Adorning his torso was a surcoat with a silver inner coloration, and azure expanding from that to his back. Large blue pauldrons covered his shoulders with brown fins lining their rims and prominent orange spikes jutting out the top. A small cloak wrought of amber fin attached to the rear junction of the pauldrons and ran down his back. Massive claw-like spikes covered the Hunter's waist, their orange tips looking sharp enough to be weapons in their own right. More spikes covered the potential striking regions of the blue segmented gauntlets and greaves he wore, invoking a sense of primal fear with the cruel keenness of their tips. However, the most notable feature of the Hunter's armor was the helmet, obviously modeled after some great water wyvern. The extended brow and chin tapered downward to sharp, parallel spikes, framing the Hunter's face in a menacing snarl. Coming out of the back of the helmet was a long, attached tail, formed from hard spines leading to a arrowhead-like end. Horns attached to the top of the helmet made it resemble a monstrous head, and a fierce crest of orange spines ran from the top of the helmet to the end of the helmet's tail. ' _Must be Kaidan then,'_ Shepard thought appreciatively.

To his right was presumably Ashley Williams, a Wyverian if the backwards bending, digitigrade legs were any indication. Her armor seemed highly technical, quite unusual for a Hunter. The majority of her armor was bright orange, and fit her lithe, muscular form in slightly bulky metal plating like a orange exoskeleton. Certain parts, however, seemed different. Along her hips, the metal plating stopped, and the onyx undersuit was exposed. ' _Probably to not hinder movement too much,'_ Shepard thought. Her chestpiece abruptly jutted out into a light red point with two neon green lines on either side of it, glowing with stored power. The underside of this point attached to the orange plating covering the Hunter's abdomen. Oversized spherical pauldrons covered her shoulders, seeming almost comically large in comparison to the sleekness of the majority of the armor. The helmet was also colored crimson and had silver wire casing on either side of its striking acid-green visor, no doubt embedded with a variety of technologies befitting the pre-First Great Wyvern War era civilization. Most notably of all, the right arm ended in a gun-like tube, with a classic grill for heat dispersal on its top and glowing, neon-green lines at its base. ' _Arm cannon indeed,'_ Shepard thought, somewhat surprised. ' _Although, I do get the feeling that I'm missing something about this armor.'_

Standing beside Anderson with well hidden nervousness was the most startling of all the people there. The entirety of his uniform armor was obsidian-black, with a few bright red lights glowing at the crest and blood-colored decals down the front of it. While this normally looked terrifying to any observer, compared to the multitude of Hunters nearby it seemed positively mundane. The Turian wearing the armor seemed well aware of this fact and, despite his many years of service as a Council Specter, looked apprehensive about a mission for the first time in his career.

"Good, you're here," Anderson said to Shepard, before returning to alternating his gaze between the rest of his hunting party. "Now, concerning our assignment," he said in a professional tone, "we will be joined by Council Specter Nihlus Kryik" he said, gesturing to the Turian beside him. "The Citadel Council and Councilor Slade agreed for him to join us to review the Systems Alliance's military technology and tactics." Taking on a more fatherly tone, he said with a grin hidden behind his helmet "I'm assuming you all looked through the short descriptions of each of the other party members." Receiving an affirmative from the other party members, Anderson continued. "That's good, but nowhere near enough information if we're going to be hunting together. Our first priority is getting to know each other."

While this was being said, Nihlus looked on stoically, secretly pleased with the potential he saw.

#

Silently soaring through the emptiness of space, the fleet of Alliance ships flew towards the Charon Relay. The hunting expedition into the Voyager Cluster had begun. Within the cargo bay of one of the frigates, the SSV Nomandy, Shepard stood over a desk, reading over a list of supplies.

' _Weapons and armor are accounted for,'_ he though satisfied, ' _now on to Quake.'_ Swiftly walking towards an area of the cargo bay sectioned off with Mediastrinum walls, Shepard came upon the sight of Nihlus staring reservedly at a penned in Diablos. Giving off a short laugh at the Turian's confusion, Shepard closed the distance between them. "Nihlus," he greeted the Turian merrily, "I see you've found Quake, our resident Diablos."

Clearly missing something, Nihlus glanced at Shepard and said "why is this giant beast on this ship."

Quake looked up from his meal of cacti and growled slightly at Nihlus, causing his handler to also glare at him for angering the Diablos.

"Careful," Shepard warned Nihlus, "Quake doesn't like being called a beast."

"Right," Nihlus dragged out. "That still doesn't answer my question."

"Imagine having him on your side in a fight" Shepard said with a grin. "Stick someone with a bowgun on his back, and you have our equivalent of a tank. Although," Shepard's brow furrowed slightly in thought, "that doesn't work too well when he burrows underground to ambush enemies."

Looking over at Shepard in shock, Nihlus shouted "wait, what! How could a Diablos possibly burrow underground?"

"Look at Quake's head," Shepard said shrugging, "those horns are for more than just impaling people. Anyway, I have to check the rest of the supplies before we get to the relay," he said, walking off.

Nihlus, intrigued by what he had heard, turned to examine the great, curved horns of the Diablos when he noticed Quake was still glaring at him. "Um, sorry," Nihlus said awkwardly.

Quake simply huffed and resumed eating his cacti.

#

"Welcome," a middle-aged Salarian in an Alliance docking port said to a camera held by an Asari camerawoman, "this is Faedern with Galactic News. We're on Arcturus Station, a prominent Systems Alliance station, and we have an exclusive interview with an engineer of one of their cruiser class ships," he said gesturing to the massive bulk of the ship behind him. Hearing soft footsteps approaching them, Faedern looked to the side, and said "ah, that should be him now."

Approaching the two of them was a small, furred feline with a badge on his uniform reading ' _Engineer Steven'_. He carried a small datapad with him, and smiling brightly upon seeing Faedern. He quickly scurried over to the them, and said friendly "hello! You must be Faedern."

Faedern wasn't entirely sure what to make of Engineer Steven, but he had to stay professional, unlike the camerawoman trying very hard not to coo at how adorable the Felyne in front of her was and not entirely succeeding. "Correct," Faedern said, taking control over the conversation, "Here from Galactic News to ask about Systems Alliance's ships."

"Sure," Steven replied, surprisingly enthusiastically, "anything in particular?"

"Couldn't help but notice tessellated ship hull, what alloy is it comprised of?" Faedern asked, scientific mind overjoyed at the opportunity to have his personal questions answered.

Steven looked surprised for a moment, an expression Asari audiences galaxy-wide found adorable. "Keep in mind," he said, brow furrowed and whiskers drooping slightly, "we aren't really in the habit of using alloys for plating anything. Most ship hulls are comprised of mediastrinum: the outer shell of particularly tough Gravios."

"Outer shell?" Faedern asked, thinking he had misunderstood Steven. "You mean animal exoskeleton?"

"Exactly," Steven said, "most of our technology is based on monster parts."

' _Ignoring usage of term monster, probably cultural differences,'_ Faedern thought quickly. "Fascinating. Any other examples of wildlife based military-" Faedern droned off when a massive creature stepped into his view. "What is that?" he said alarmed to the point of stuttering.

The monster was avian in origin, given its large wingspan and digitigrade, fleshy legs contrasting with its otherwise scaled body. Immaculate gold scales flowed down the monster's back, their exotic beauty concealing their razor sharp edges peculiarly pointed towards the monster's head. The monster's underbelly was a very pale tan, bordering on white, and just as sharp as its topside. Rooted into its skull, just above its pointed, fanged beak, lay a horn more keen than any scalpel Faedern had ever seen, only matched in sharpness by the trio of spikes emerging from the monster's tail. Every inch of the monster reminded Faedern of barely contained anger, and every cruelly sharp edge and point of the agony this beast could inflict if given a moment to attack whom it pleased.

Steven turned, caught off guard by Faedern's exclamation, "that's a Seregios," he said calmly. "Our military has long since incorporated them into infantry regiments and even a few hunting parties along with several other monster species."

"Impossible," Faedern stated as if that would make the monster he saw disappear. "How does Alliance control such obvious aggression in creature like that during battle."

Steven hesitated for a moment, knowing the answer would shock the bewildered Salarian and terrified Asari even more. "The solution's simpler than you're imagining," he said as handlers led the Seregios into the cruiser. "We have specially trained Hunters ride them into combat."

The sound of Faedern's microphone hitting the floor echoed for a short distance, soon followed by his jaw.

#

Saren stood in the Council Chambers, eardrums ringing and pressure pounding on the inside of his head. He felt too racked by emotion to think clearly, mind only registering elation, pride, and rancor. So there he stood, silently, as the councilors recited an ancient speech.

"They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence," Councilor Sparatus said proudly looking down upon the motionless Saren. "The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." Finishing the famous, honored speech, Councilor Sparatus smiled. "Saren Arterius, you are now a member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

Choking on his own voice, Saren stuttered imperceptibly for a moment, before managing to put his thoughts into words. "My deepest thanks, Councilors," he said, subharmonics ringing with pride, "I shall uphold the sanctity of galactic peace to the utmost best of my ability, no matter the personal cost."

Upon his dismissal from the Council Chambers, Saren walked towards the Specter Requisitions office, a steely glare in his metallic eyes. ' _The Systems Alliance shall never corrupt the Citadel's refinement!'_ he thought angrily, purpose clear in mind.

#

 **Author's Note**

 **Just a quick note, the monster riders are based on several comments and the game Monster Hunter Stories**


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

 **Author's Notes**

 _'Thinking'_

 _Reading_

"Speaking"

#

 _'I'm getting too old for this,_ ' an aged Human mentally groaned as he lifted the screen separating his small general wares store from the rest of the Citadel. Looking out at the massive expanse so different from the tribal styled Alliance colonies, he sighed, tired but content. _'Hopefully I'll get plenty of customers,'_ he thought, grinning. _'After all, I own one of the first Alliance stores to open on the Citadel.'_

It wasn't long before inquisitive customers started trickling in. Among them was a Turian looking at the wares with a disappointed expression. Seeing this, the shopkeeper approached her. "Excuse me miss," he said warmly, "do you need help finding something?"

"Yes," she said, drawing the word hesitantly, "I had heard the Systems Alliance makes extensive use of melee weapons and exotic armors made from animal hides." Looking around discreetly to make sure no one she knew was nearby, she said somewhat awkwardly "I had hoped to see if this was true."

"We most certainly use gear of that variety," the aged shopkeeper replied with a nod. "However, I do not carry any, nor would any of the other Alliance stores if they want to stay in business."

The Turian's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Why not?" she asked, subharmonics ringing with unheard disappointment. "I'm sure they would sell quite well, particularly among Krogan."

The old man shook his head slightly. "It's not a matter of price, it's a matter of principle. There is a very respected tradition, and law, in the Systems Alliance that a warrior must earn his weapons and armor as the gear is an extension of himself. Because of this, our smiths just craft the equipment, the wielder obtains the materials. Usually this takes the form of mining for ore and the like, but in the case of Monster Hunters they obtain materials by hunting large beasts for their natural armor and weaponry. As such, only black market traders and the like would sell armour and weaponry made from monster parts." Finishing his explanation with a smile, the shopkeeper said "if you were to obtain materials, then I'm sure you could find a Systems Alliance smith willing to craft armor or weapons for you."

By this point, the Turian's mandibles were spread wide with surprise. "Right," she said slowly, as if talking to a crazy person, "thanks for clarifying that. If you could answer another question, why do your Hunters wear such...elaborate armor. Oftentimes, a lot of the Hunter's body is exposed or the armor looks prohibitively heavy."

"It depends on the Hunter," the shopkeeper replied, shrugging. "Some prefer to rely on their natural agility to save them from danger, while others rely on thick armor to do so." Gaining a thoughtful expression, the Human continued pensively. "There's also another side to it, though. From what I've heard about Hunters, their armor becomes a very literal part of who they are, especially in a fight. They say that the spirit of the monster guides them, and they gain abilities based on the creature's abilities, temperament, and even habits." Splaying his hand in a cautionary gesture, he said. "But I am no Hunter, so I cannot truly speak for them."

 _'Holy Palaven,'_ the Turian thought, amazed. _'They must be crazy if they think they're communing with Spirits!'_ She left the store soon after.

#

Saren sighed darkly as he approached an alabaster building more akin to a small palace than a house. _'Spirits, let her see reason'_ he thought hopeful, but unconvinced. The designs of the building was archetypally Asari, tall and formed into a massive curve. Even the massive doors met in an arch, instead of the standard box frame. An Asari was waiting for Saren at the doors.

"Specter Arterius," she said politely, "please follow me." a short walk later, they arrived at a small, but ornate meeting room.

Saren mentally sighed, then walked through the automated doors, and found himself confronted with one of the strongest Asari Matriarchs in the galaxy.

"Specter Arterius," Benezia said calmly, "to what do I owe this meeting?"

"I'm here to discuss recent trading with the Systems Alliance," he said, doing his best to mask his disdain. Deterring Benezia from helping him wouldn't do the civilized galaxy any good, after all.

Benezia frowned slightly. "What about them? The ban on trading with them was only just lifted." Her eyebrow lifted slightly, daring him to speak his mind.

 _'Somehow I think she already knows what I want,'_ Saren thought as he chose his next words carefully. He took a moment to think, then said "Exactly. Open trading with the Systems Alliance is a recent development, but look at the wares already being sold across the Citadel!" Saren unconsciously narrowed his eyes, remembering the stores he had seen. "They are selling pets as dangerous as varren, fish that explode when they die, plants that spontaneously ignite themselves!" Saren turned his glaring eyes from the table to Benezia. He took a breath before speaking. "I think you can see why I'm concerned."

"Is the danger posed by these items the fault of the Systems Alliance?" Benezia asked calmly. "Or is it the fault or consumers who don't know what they are? After all, a commercial gun can be more dangerous than any of the things you listed."

"You need to have a license to buy a gun," Saren countered. "The dangers posed by the Systems Alliance can be sold to anyone."

Benezia locked eyes with Saren. "Don't forget, opening a shop on the Citadel can be quite expensive, especially in places a lot of people pass by. Any Alliance shopkeepers wealthy enough to afford a shop here will know enough to not sell potentially explosive wildlife to a child." Benezia gave Saren a friendly smile, "Besides, what are you suggesting? That we discourage an entire culture from opening stores on the Citadel?"

"If that is what we must do to preserve our way of life, then yes" Saren said, a bit more harshly than he intended.

"Then I'm afraid I cannot help you with this" Benezia said.

"In that case I will leave you to the rest of your day," he said, and walked out of the building with as much composure as he could manage. _'Spirits damn it,'_ Saren thought as he descended the stairs in front of the building, _'why can no one else see these savages for what they are?'_ His thoughts were interrupted by a message on his omnitool. Saren put his back to the nearest wall, and discreetly looked at it. It was an STG report he had requisitioned. _Movement of Systems Alliance ships,_ he read as a smirk drew across his face. _Small Alliance fleet of three cruisers and several frigates heading towards Torfan._ Saren grinned, _'How useful.'_

#

Shepard's breath filled his ears as pre-battle anticipation rose his adrenaline level. Anderson, Kaidan, Ashley, and Nihlus joined him in a shuttle as they approached a drop-site near a Terminus slaver base. The Hunters had their personal armor and weapons, while Nihlus bore Predator M armor, a Punisher sniper rifle, and a Brawler pistol. Looking out a viewing screen, Shepard saw the invasion of Torfan already underway. Regimented squadrons of Alliance soldiers marched towards the grey metal buildings, Ingot Armor shining in the dawn's light. Intermixed among them, a few Hunters proudly bore their exotic arms and armors, each piece retelling the story of triumph over monstrous beasts that led to their creation. High in the air, a mighty Rathalos dotted the sky with a Hunter mounted on his back.

From his vantage point, Shepard could make out defensive lines and turrets set up to repel the Alliance soldiers. _'Those could pose a problem for the infantry,'_ Shepard thought, eying the turrets, _'perhaps the Hunters or Rathalos could take them out.'_ His analysis was cut short by a dull, earthy thud, signaling the shuttle had landed.

"Listen up," Anderson bellowed, looking at Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley. "Our orders are to fight our way to the slaves held in the east wing of the base," he said with the reserved anger of thunder before a storm. "Nihlus will be positioned by the river to the right of the slave quarters to observe our progress for his report to the Citadel."

Shepard felt rage rise within him at the mention of a fight. _'Time to kill,'_ he thought, grinning, as his hunting party stalked towards their target with Quake following underground.

#

Nihlus took cover in a large patch of leafy plants and brought out his Punisher to appraise the hunters' advance towards the east wing of the slaver base. _'Good, they're sticking to cover'_ he thought. _'Even with that ridiculous armor, they're not invincible.'_ Nihlus narrowed his eyes as the hunters engaged a squadron of slavers. _'Honestly, I almost feel bad for the slavers,'_ Nihlus thought as he watched one get ambushed and gored by Quake. _'While their fighting methods are primitive, they are certainly effective.'_

Nihlus's observation was interrupted by movement in his peripheral vision. _'Too subtle to be the wind, too careful to be an animal.'_ With precision learned from decades of experience as a Specter, Nihlus slowly turned his eyes towards the source, moving his head as little as possible. _'There's just bushes there,'_ he thought, _'something is trying to be stealthy.'_ Nihlus peeked the barrel of his rifle out of his hiding spot, and looked through the scope at the figure mostly cloaked by the underbrush. _'Dull grey armor with slightly lighter plates attached,'_ he noted. _'Doesn't look to be of Alliance design, so who-'_ Nihlus' thoughts were cut off as the figure moved up slightly, revealing for a split-second grey plates: a face he would recognize anywhere. _'Saren? Why would he be here?'_

Nihlus reattached his sniper rifle to his back, and crept towards the figure he had seen, he had to investigate this. Crossing the distance between them took some time, due to Nihlus trying to remain unseen, but eventually he was close enough to be sure: Specter Saren Arterius was silently watched Anderson's hunting party through his own Punisher no more than twenty meters away from him. _'What on Palaven is he doing here,'_ Nihlus thought, an ominous feeling building in his gut. _'It's probably nothing, but I have to make sure.'_

Nihlus quietly placed his gun down, so as to not seem threatening, then said as calmly as he could "Saren."

The reaction was immediate. Saren spun a fraction of a second after Nihlus spoke and leveled his rifle at Nihlus. Realizing who he was aiming at, Saren lowered his gun. "Nihlus?" Saren said uncertainly.

"What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked, genuinely curious but maintaining professionalism.

Saren's mind frantically tried to think of an excuse for why he was watching Hunters assault a slaver base. "'I'm scouting for the Citadel," he said calmly, "they wanted to know what the Alliance was like when it fought."

Nihlus looked at him, surprised. "Odd, I'm on a similar mission," he said frowning for a moment before shrugging. "The Council probably just wanted two opinions on this."

"They are a big enough threat to justify it," Saren said as Nihlus resumed his prone position, "we need to know how to kill them if we are to protect galactic security."

"Honestly I don't think there's much of a need," Nihlus said chidingly. "I don't think they're really a big threat to galactic security, just like how us Turians are not a threat to galactic security. Even though we could potentially threaten the well-being of other species, we have no reason to."

Saren stared at Nihlus in shock. _'He's siding with the Alliance!'_ Saren thought, horrified. _'Even worse, he may be able to convince the Council keep them in galactic society.'_ A sinister idea sprung to the forefront of Saren's mind with alarming speed. _'He's right there, not focusing on me, I could end him right here and no one would be the wiser.'_ Saren pondered this, feeling sick at the idea, but uncertain even so.

#

Metal screamed as it was torn apart. Not even the refined alloys fielded by wealthy Terminus slavers could withstand the animal-like ferocity that was John Shepard. Spinning into another downward slash, Shepard could envision the might of an enraged Deviljho fueling him as his Great Demon Halberd bit deeply into another batarian. The corners of Shepard's mouth twitched upward when he saw enemies forming up to fire at him, _'perfect.'_ John barrelled forward and focused his thoughts on the form he learned years ago as a low-rank hunter. _'1: right downward slash,'_ Shepard's halberd cut down through the collarbone of one gunman and kept going. ' _2: left downward slash,'_ John felt his spirit flowing into each strike, making his halberd a deadly blur. A growl left Shepard's throat as bullets ricocheted off him, _'3: double upward slash'_. He locked his eyes onto the last slaver, _'4: spirit slash'_. Shepard spun and his spirit left him as a roar, while a horizontal slash bisected the remaining pirate.

Shepard's breath came heavily as he looked for more enemies. To his right, Kaiden skillfully wove through mass-accelerated rounds, deflecting and dodging as he ripped through armor and flesh with his Plesiperse Spike. Behind Kaiden, Ashley advanced on another group of slavers that had taken cover behind a low wall. Disregarding the bullets pinging off her armor, she retaliated with a barrage of energy shots. _'They're both fine,'_ Shepard thought, somewhat chuckling at the meager defense the slavers were providing, _'but where's Anderson?'_

A deafening boom reverberated through Shepard's skull, and his head snapped to the left. The familiar bulk of Anderson's armor was racing along the ground at frightening speed towards a hovering Jiris gunship, his Rathflame Ubernova glowing red and drawn in sword and shield form. Grinning, Shepard joined Anderson's charge.

Shepard sprinted toward the gunship as Anderson drew its fire,backhanding any missiles it fired away from him. John's breathing sped up as he closed the distance between himself and the gunship's flank. Envisioning himself tearing into the Jiris's armor and crew, Shepard readied his Great Demon Halberd and tensed his legs to lunge, but was stopped when a trio of fireballs slammed into the gunship sending it careening into the ground.

A bone-chilling screech assaulted John's ears, its low-pitched bass vibrating through his bones. Shadow briefly covered Shepard as a red blur dive-bombed the fallen Jiris and crushed the metal between its talons. Looking at the imposing figure, John couldn't even get mad at his kill being stolen. A mighty red wyvern stood atop the gunship's wreckage. His black streaked body was covered in thick hide and bulging muscles, clear evidence of a lifetime spent hunting. Spikes grew off of the many striking surfaces on his body, and talons as big as John's forearm flexed, depressing the metal of the Jiris. The Rathalos reared back and bellowed his victory, showing off his brilliantly colored wings that bore the visage of fire.

"Easy there," a female voice said, voice unwavering despite her comrade's roar. The Rathalos lowered its front and wings, allowing the Hunter on his back to be seen. Her armor bore great resemblance to the wyvern she rode. It was fashioned as a cuirass and armored kilt of red and black Rathalos scales, with matching greaves and gauntlets. The helm consisted of a faceplate that wrapped around the head and draped plating over the back of the Hunter's neck, and was forged out of the same iconic crimson scales. Certain parts the required flexibility like the joints and neck guard were made of silvery bone and metal, while much of the rest of the armor had black spikes jutting out of it. Her weapon caught Shepard's attention the most, however. At first, he thought it was a great sword, but when he looked closer John realized it was actually a lance. The tip was wide and arrow-like, and the length of the segmented blade shone a dull icy blue. A long spike protruded out the end of the lance, and a large white shield embroidered with blue scales and spikes complimented it.

"Anderson!" the Hunteress shouted angrily, snapping Shepard out of his thoughts. "Your Diablos is gone!"

Anderson could not help but glare at her, "what do you mean Quake is gone?" he asked, scowling.

"We were hunting down the enemy's armored troops," the red-armored Hunter said, "then he freezes, closes his eyes like he's listening for something, and dives into the ground heading that way." She finished her story by pointing in the direction of river to their right.

Kaiden and Ashley hurried over to Anderson, who was thinking deeply about what could have disturbed Quake. "Anderson," Kaiden said, "Isn't Nihlus supposed to be observing the battle from somewhere near there?"

"Yes," Anderson sighed. "If I've learned anything in my years as a Hunter, it's to trust that Diablos's hearing." Suddenly, his faceplate turned towards John. "Shepard, go find Quake and see what disturbed him. The rest of us will continue with our mission."

John huffed inwardly, not liking his new objective, but bit his tongue. "Yes, sir." he said before running off in the direction of the river.

#

In the far reaches of Saren's mind, his subconscious was screaming at him that this was very, very wrong. That he was a traitor for even considering murdering Nihlus. But some deeper part of his mind didn't care. It didn't care and it swept away any opposition with machine-like efficiency.

 _'So be it then,'_ Saren thought, inwardly growling at what he had to do. _'I have to kill Nihlus, so the Alliance cannot corrupt the Council.'_ Tearing his gaze from the battle at hand, Saren looked over at Nihlus. _'I'll avenge you, I swear.'_

Rising to a knee, Saren silently pointed his sniper rifle at Nihlus's head, the reality of his position hitting him like a truck. Fighting off the shame, Saren couldn't stop himself from saying "I'm sorry," almost choking on emotion as he moved his finger onto the trigger.

Having heard Saren say, Nihlus turned his head to him, only to look down the barrel of a rifle. Mandibles spread wide in sudden shock, Nihlus threw himself to the side.

The bullet impacted Nihlus's chest, nearly overloading his kinetic barrier and sending him sprawling and stunning him. Nihlus's mind ceased to function and he worked on instinct. His hand flew to his Brawler, and fired a few panicked shots at Saren, who stood uncannily still as he reloaded, despite the gunfire deflecting off his shield.

Another shot fired through Saren's Punisher, this time breaking through Nihlus's already weakened barrier. The bullet tore through Nihlus's chest with the sound of flesh ripping apart and screaming. The force of the shot made Nihlus skid across the ground, losing his sidearm in the process. Nihlus regained control of his voice as Saren reloaded again.

"Damn traitor," he said, in enough pain the very ground seemed to shake under him, "the Council will have your head!" Saren didn't respond. He wordlessly leveled his rifle at Nihlus, who closed his eyes in preparation.

As if struck by artillery, the ground exploded between the two Specters and a horrendous shrieking came from somewhere in the impact. Opening his eyes as soon as his ears stopped being assaulted, Nihlus was met with the massive bulk of Quake standing between him and Saren. Quake growled and lowered his head the now prone Saren, then charged. Several tons of muscle and anger crashed into Saren, sending his body flying into the river.

Breathing heavily from the hole through his chest, Nihlus succumbed to unconsciousness as Quake carefully approached him.

#

Weakly opening his eyes with the speed of a mountain growing, Saren immediately closed them in pain. Looking down at his broken body lying on the riverside, Saren tallied his injuries. _'Snapped spine at the hips,'_ he thought, wincing heavily, _'broken leg, few cracked ribs, probably head trauma. Mind's too jarred to think clearly,'_ he thought forlornly. Closing his eyes and taking as deep of a hacking, strangled breath as he could, wetness cut remorseful lines through the grime on his face. _'So this is how I die,'_ Saren thought, sobbing, _'a Spirits-damned traitor.'_

As Saren was about to allow himself to slip into the enveloping darkness out of shame, a voice resounded in Saren's mind, undeniable in its intensity. "You will die," it boomed with apathetic certainty, "unless you accept my gift."

Saren's breathing grew heavy at the sudden intrusion. "Who are you?" he demanded weakly, mind screaming in agony at the harsh, low-pitched tones of the monster in his head.

"You will learn," the voice responded, uncaring of his pain, "if you accept. Otherwise, you face a traitor's end."

Saren thought about its words for a few moments, before his barely conscious mind came to a conclusion. _'Either I'm going nuts, or it's actually a spirit.'_ As he started choking on his own blood, Saren thought, _'may as well accept.'_ Saren felt a rush going through him, light briefly radiating outwards from his body. Before he lost consciousness, Saren faintly heard in his rent and broken mind, _'assuming direct control.'_

 **Author's Note**

 **This took me way too long to update**

 **A few things to note:**

 **Diablos have very sensitive hearing from spending so much time underground. Quake could hear a rifle being shot near Nihlus and went to investigate.**

 **In the Monster Hunter series, the weapon and armor vendors primarily sell equipment manufactured from metals, instead of monster parts. There are some exceptions, like Leather Armor, but they are so low tier they barely serve as weapons or armor. Anything sold by a vendor would mostly be used for recreational hunting (such as Kelbi hunting), not professional monster hunting.**

 **Regarding the Alliance's military, there are three kinds of ground forces employed. The first is the baseline infantry. These soldiers are not "superhuman" in any way and usually wear Ingot Armor they mined the ore for. Compared to other armies, these infantry have relatively weak armor and currently wear no kinetic barriers. However, they have unusually powerful weaponry (starting bowguns in Monster Hunter games can fire several deadly ammunition types) and excellent survival, medical, and stealth skills compared to other armies. Monster hunters are the elite infantry of the Systems Alliance (hunter ranks replace the N designations given to soldiers). Even a low-rank hunter is a powerful force on the battlefield, and they are often at the forefront of battles. In general, a low-rank hunter can kill anything from a Krogan battlemaster to a squadron of average soldiers, a high-rank hunter can kill anything from a squadron of veteran soldiers to an experienced Specter, and a g-rank hunter can kill at least a full detachment of average soldiers. Full hunting parties can do even more. Unfortunately, given how difficult it is for a soldier to become a hunter and their method of acquiring new armaments, there are relatively few monster hunters in the Systems Alliance compared to other elite infantry forces, and most of them are low-rank. Finally, the third type of ground force deployed by the Alliance is made up of monsters. These replace conventional artillery and war machines (tanks, gunships, etc) for the Systems Alliance. In the Monster Hunter games, many species of monster are found in multiple ranks, but in general threat level 1-3 monsters are low rank, threat level 4-5 monsters are high rank, and threat level 6 monsters are g-rank (although particularly strong individuals of any species can be of higher rank than usual).**

 **To answer a few questions that came up in the comments:**

 **Whenever you see the shakalaka in the Monster Hunter games they have a far more tribal society than any other sentient species. Combine this with how isolationist they are (Cha-cha and Kayamba only interact with humans because they were separated from the other Shakalaka and on quests that required they interact with humans), when the humans, felynes, and wyvernians flew into space the shakalaka stayed on the ground. They simply prefer the familiarity of their ancestral homes to the massive expanse of space. The other subspecies of humanoids in the Monster Hunter series are also isolationist and quite rare. Rare enough that they don't even have models in any of the games. While they are present in the Systems Alliance, the other subspecies of sentient humanoids are rarely seen.**

 **As for the variety of the weapon types, I picked weapon types based on what seemed thematically appropriate for each character or, in a few cases, what fit the plot best. Shepard and Anderson typically use striker style, Kaidan uses guild style, and Ashley uses aerial style. I'm not sure if any personal bias affected my decisions, but personally I enjoy using aerial heavy bowgun, striker bow, striker dual swords, and aerial insect glaive.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Author's Notes**

' _Thinking'_

 _Reading_

"Speaking"

#

"Out of the way!" shouted a tired paramedic as he carried one end of a gurney through the halls of the SSV Normandy. On the cloth stretched taut between him and a peer lay a badly wounded turian: Nihlus. A massive hole was torn through his chest, ragged at the edges and bleeding heavily.

' _Still better than when I got to him,'_ Shepard thought, watching the procession vacantly. In his mind, John replayed the events of the past hour in his head.

' _Dashing through wilderness, following tracks Quake didn't bother hiding.'_ Shepard focused on what had happened, concentrating even as the ship shook as it took off. ' _Disturbed ground and uprooted trees leading to the Diablos bellowing a screeching roar. A lithe figure lay motionless in the underbrush, smooth exterior broken abruptly by a jagged fist-sized rent. A call for evac and frantic judgement call. Administering a powerful concoction - immunizer, chemical catalyst, and powered Kelbi horn - to save his life.'_

"John!" A shout interrupted Shepard's thoughts. He turned to see Anderson approaching, a dark look evident even through his still bloodstained armor. "What happened to Nihlus, we have to send a report to the Citadel."

The two hunters walked briskly to the communications room as Shepard briefed Anderson on the details. "I tracked Quake to Nihlus, who was laying in the underbrush unconscious. After ensuring there were no more enemies, I called for evac and administered whatever first aid I could to Nihlus." Shepard paused for a moment. "I used an ancient potion to treat the wounds" he said, speech slow and cautious.

Anderson's head whipped towards him. "You did what!" he said harshly. "Do you not realize what could have happened had Nihlus had an allergic reaction to the ingredients in that."

' _Of course,'_ John restrained himself from growling out. "Yes," he said evenly, "but Nihlus was about to die. An allergic reaction would hardly make his condition worse."

"Whether that's true is irrelevant," Anderson responded. "Imagine the Council's reaction if we said a Specter was injured, and help _was_ on the way but one of our Hunters killed him by accident."

Shepard sighed in resignation as he entered the communications room with Anderson.

#  
In a flash a blue light, a hologram depicting two armored Monster Hunters shut off. None of the Councilors spoke for a second, each of them already anticipating what the others were thinking and the potential ramifications of a Specter being ambushed.  
Tevos looked over at Sparatus, already having a good idea of what he was going to say. "I know how you're feeling Sparatus, but we cannot rush to conclusions."  
Sparatus bit back an angry rebuke. "I realize that, but we must do something!" He looked over at the other councilors. "Nihlus almost died from whoever attacked him."  
"Fortunately, Specter Nihlus lives" Councilor Torbel interrupted as he read through a hastily-written report by Anderson, "Questioning possible."  
"You heard how they the described the injury!" Nihlus said. "A fist-sized hole blown straight through his chest; it may take weeks for him to be able to answer questions."  
"Actually," Torbel said, "look at his reported recovery." Sparatus and Tevos quickly scrolled further down the report sent by the Alliance as Torbel continued. "Condition stabilized in field, wound already starting to close, organs regenerating from critical damage."  
"Goddess," Tevos said, eyes raking over her datapad, "how did they manage that?"  
Sparatus sighed somewhat angrily. "More of their 'magic' biotech probably" he said sarcastically.  
Torbel shook his head, "resourceful, not magic. Considering life present on Earth, Alliance had ample specimens for study. Own scientist teams have been working at understanding how Alliance biotech works. Even with their scientists trying to explain it, progress has been unfortunately slow."  
"That's not surprising," Tevos said. "It is an entirely new generation of technology after all. At least the Alliance is cooperating."

Shepard glared irritably as he waited for his elevator to reach a lower level of the Citadel. The Normandy had docked at the Citadel a few hours ago, and he was finally released from giving reports to various officials.  
A short ding caught Shepard's attention and he smiled at the sight of the famous/infamous Chora's Den. ' _A bar will do me some good,'_ he thought, glad to have a chance to destress. John relaxed his shoulders, straightened his gaze, and confidently walked to the doors, only to be hit by a wall of noise as he yanked them open. Even without his armor, the patrons near the entrance stared at the unfamiliar bulk of a Monster Hunter walking amongst them. More than a few of them likened John to a Krogan and hurried out of his way, although many of the asari kept staring at him even after he left.

Shepard casually walked to an asari behind the bar in the center of the massive club. "Barkeep," he called out, nose crinkling at a foul odor coming from somewhere, "a drink, preferably a strong one."

The asari's eyes widened as she caught sight of him, but she quickly regained her composure. She glanced at him curiously while making the drink. "I've heard that there are some potent drinks on Earth," she said, "and I must say I'm curious about them."

John smiled as the bartender handed him the finished beverage. "There are, but the best are normally reserved for Monster Hunters. Don't want to kill someone by mistake."

"And what makes the hunters so resistant?" the asari asked inquisitively.

"Combination of genetics, grit, and occasionally monster parts" John answered. He was about to go into more detail about the monster parts, but yelling rendered unintelligible by the music drew his attention to the side. He turned to see a turian and a quarian arguing nearby.

For a second, Shepard couldn't help but stare at the quarian surprised. Graceful swirling lines colored ivory decorated the hood she wore and much of the cloth bound to her suit. The aesthetic reminded John of tapestries and art found in Yukumo, and indeed much of Earth, and the nostalgia hit him like a tidal wave. In the corner of his eye, John saw the barkeep glare at the pair and mutter something, but he was too lost in memories to care.

John's reminiscing ended as the argument he was witnessing intensified, and the turian's clawed hands clenched. Tuning out the indignant barkeeper, who had realized she was being ignored, John stood and walked over to the conflict. He was already impressed by how the quarian wasn't backing down. As he approached, Shepard gathered what the argument was about.

"I'm telling you I have no idea-"

"It had to have gone somewhere! Your kind is already known as thieves and here you are proving it true."

"I didn't steal anything, bosh'tet."

Shepard cleared his throat and both their heads snapped to him, then took a step back when they saw the hunter's muscled form. Taking advantage of his surprise, Shepard turned his head to face the turian. "Now would be a good time to leave."

The turian unconsciously bared his fangs and rose to the greatest height he could. "I'm not leaving until-" his tirade stuttered out when Shepard gave him an unimpressed glare, the kind someone gives to nuisances. Having lost his will to fight, the turian backed away with as much of his dignity as he could.

#

Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayyah was not in a good mood. Keenah had succumbed to his wounds, she was shot escaping from the turian mercenary that was hounding them, and now when she could finally get rid of the memory core that started all of this, she gets accussed of stealing a credit chit. Some hysterical corner of Tali's mind cried in horror at the plummet towards violence and conspiracy her pilgrimage was taking, but she suppressed it with great effort. ' _Not now,'_ she thought, already facing the massive human in front of her, ' _have to keep calm.'_

"Um, thank you for that" Tali said, watching the muscled man turn towards her and praying he didn't notice how nervous she was.  
"Not a problem," Shepard replied. He had heard of the other Citadel races' bias against the Quarians when he was reading through the Citadel's codex.  
Tali looks at him for a moment, analyzing. "Wait, you're one of the Alliance's Hunters aren't you?"  
Tali's composure was hard for John to place. The glowing dots of her eyes were widened slightly and she looked surprised, as if she just came to great realization. Intrigued, Shepard responded with a question of his own. "Yes. How noticable is it?"  
"Well, you're a lot bigger than the other humans here," Tali said lightheartedly. Suddenly her gaze moved away from Shepard's face. "Uh that came out wrong. I meant tall-big, not the other kind" Tali said, one of her hands wringing the other nervously.

Shepard chuckled a bit, "A spectacle am I?" he said trying to calm the nervous quarian.

Tali took a short breath to steady herself, before continuing. "Speaking of spectacles, a lot of people are interested in your biotech. I was hoping to get a chance to work with it." Tali's speech quickened, and she backed away from Shepard slightly as she realized what she was asking. "I don't know what your engineers are like, and I'm sure they're competent, but maybe I could show them something too. I'm good with mass effect tech, and I learn quickly; I'm a quarian after all."

Shepard raised a hand to interrupt her. "That wouldn't be my decision," he said, "however I can bring it up with my party leader and captain."

"Really?" Tali said, surprised to not get shot down. She tapped a few quick commands into her omnitool, and John felt his own vibrate as it added a contact number. "Um, thank you for this."

Any reply he would have made was drowned out when his omnitool started buzzing loudly. Shepard's head whipped downward with a speed the startled quarian in front of him could barely process.

 _Get to Council Chambers immediately._

 _-Anderson_  
"Sorry about this, but I need to leave" Shepard said, looking up.

"Right, just don't forget about me."

' _What happened to get me here?'_ Tali thought despondently as she watched Shepard hurrying out of the bar.

#

Rushing up the many stairs leading to the Citadel Tower with startling speed, Shepard ran faster than any normal human ever could. He briefly exulted in the feeling of the wind whipping by, and the surprised looks of politicians hurrying out of his way. John's reverie was interrupted when he saw Anderson waiting by the doors, frowning.

"Sir," Shepard said as he came to a stop before his party leader, "you called."

"Yes, and the Council wouldn't tell me why you were needed." Anderson replied, even as he walked into the tower. "It likely has to do with Nihlus, but I suspect this also concerns your actions on Elysium."

John followed the older Monster Hunter. "Now?" he asked. "That happened weeks ago."

"You're a hunter, not a bureaucrat." Anderson responded. "You measure time in seconds; they measure time in years."

Shepard's brow strained inward. "But why would they even care? The Kirin and I killed nearly all the pirates, so I doubt they're a continued threat."

Anderson sighed. "I'm worried that they think you are."

Shepard looked at Anderson in surprise, "How so? Sure the Systems Alliance had a rough start in the galaxy, but war was ultimately averted."

Anderson paused a second to phrase his thoughts. "Even so, there is still some animosity between the Alliance races and Turians. More importantly, you have to admit that Hunters are rather bloody fighters and footage of you was leaked all over galactic news."

"Fighting is bloody," John responded bluntly. "Our gear tends to be more exaggerated - larger weapons and flamboyant armor - but that is just a result of fighting monsters and making armor out of monster parts."

"Our gear is unusual true," Anderson said as they neared the entrance to the Council chambers, "however it's our mentality that scares them." He paused in front of the archway and turned to John. "We don't fight Shepard, we hunt; it's what makes us strong." Anderson's tone was as if recalling a fond memory. "On Elysium you fought like a true Deviljho: relentlessly tearing pirates apart until your quarry was slain and you were veiled in red, roaring your anger until the whole world heard you." At such close quarters, Anderson's eyes were as piercing as his words. "It was the finest display of prowess I have seen in a long time, however I worry the Council races will not see it as such."

John nodded, "I understand sir."

Finally entering the Council's Audience Chamber, the two Hunters walked to the center of the massive pillar-like room, the glare from Councilor Sparatus not lost on either of them.

"Hunter Anderson, Hunter Shepard" Tevos said, carefully regulating her tone, "thank you for coming."

"We need to know whatever it was you gave Specter Krios," Sparatus said sharply, cutting off Tevos's preplanned speech.

"I'm sorry Councilor," Anderson said evenly, "but that would be a question better suited to our biologists."

Ignoring Torbel, who looked like he agreed with Anderson, Tevos replied. "In cases as sudden as this, it's best to also ask anyone directly involved."

Nodding, Shepard said "I gave him an ancient potion. It's an expensive type of field medicine that completely heals and rejuvenates Hunters. Ancient potions also tend to leave us feeling stronger than before, at least temporarily." John breathed out slowly through his nose, not wanting to continue, but being obligated to. "The effect of ancient potions on non-Hunters is not well tested due to the scarcity of the materials needed, much less turians, however it was either I give him one or let him die."

Shepard saw Sparatus's eyes narrow and his visage harden, but was distracted from a distinctly non-turian voice.

"These potions," Torbel said, "they completely restore health? How could they possibly work?"

"I'm sorry Councilor," Shepard said, immensely grateful to the salarian, "but I cannot explain the science behind it. All I know is how to make them."

"Be that as it may, there is something else to discuss" Tevos said, watching Sparatus temper his anger with iron discipline out of the corner of her eye. "In addition to Specter Krios being attacked, there was another incident: an Alliance cruiser named the SSV Geneva was assaulted, presumably in an attempt to steal the antimatter on board. Normally this would not concern you two, however it was attacked by four figures: a felyne and three Monster Hunters." Shepard and Anderson's shock was palpable.

"Councilor, this must be a mistake." Anderson said defensively. "A Hunter turning against the Hunter's Guild is unheard of."

"Either they are Monster Hunters or they are strong enough to kill Monster Hunters" Sparatus said irritably. "Including a G-rank one if the report is correct."

"Surviving crew members referring to team as 'Nakarkos'" Torbel added, "noted dual-pronged design on armor, two skeletal heads and spines leading to central mass."

' _How could this have happened?'_ Shepard thought, pondering what could have possibly lead a fellow Hunter to go rogue. ' _And do I even want to find out?'_ Confusion led quickly into anger, then outrage. John's hands unknowingly clenched tightly, and his teeth ground together. He leveled an intense scowl at Tevos, then spoke. "You've obviously told me this for a reason. What do you need of me?"

Tevos sighed inwardly, ' _at least he's cooperative.'_ "Specter Krios has the most experience with the Systems Alliance out of our Specters. While we do plan to send him after these assailants when he has recovered, we are unsure of his ability to succeed here. As such we would have you accompany him."

"This incident has also revealed the threat posed by rogue elements from the Systems Alliance military," Torbel said. "As such, a more permanent solution is necessary. Upon recommendation of Systems Alliance Councilor Slade, you Hunter Shepard have been chosen to join the ranks of the Council Specters."

' _Me?'_ John thought, surprise overriding his earlier confusion. "If I may ask Councilors, why me? I know I'm skilled, but there are those stronger than I am."

Sparatus huffed slightly, "like it or not most of the galaxy knows who you are. The footage of you slaughtering pirates on Elysium has generated no small amount of awe and fear: two primary tools of a Specter." Sparatus gave Shepard a look that could generously be called a glare, "that is why it must be you."

John straightened his back, brought his hands to the small of his back, and looked directly into the shadowed emerald eyes of Councilor Tevos. "It is my honor to accept Councilors."

Later on in the night, a high frequency ringing came from Sparatus's omnitool, signaling an urgent call. Quickly drawing his attention from his energy drink and paperwork, Sparatus responded.  
"Councilor Sparatus speaking, what is it?"  
"My Councilor," began a dual-toned voice frayed at the end. "I was assigned to oversee the recovery of Specter Nihlus Krios. There are some unexpected complications."  
Sparatus's eyes narrowed into an angry glare. "Such as..."  
"They're somewhat difficult to explain." The doctor trailed off, obviously nervous.  
"Doctor," Sparatus interrupted, almost growling, "what is happening to him?"  
"He is healing...disturbingly fast."  
Sparatus's tightly clenched mandibles loosened slightly. "What do you mean?"  
"Normally the kind of wounds Specter Krios experienced would take months to close, let alone heal fully, however the edges of the wound were closing at a visible rate." The turian doctor started talking faster, equally confused, amazed, and disturbed. "This prompted immediate investigation into Specter Krios's condition, revealing genetic abnormalities and tissues reforming themselves into unusual configurations. I'm sorry, but we cannot predict how these changes will progress."  
Numbness engulfed Sparatus, a familiar chill that preceded disaster.  
"Monitor Specter Krios, and let me know if anything else unusual happens."

 **Author's Note**

 **To be honest, the description for the items used to make an ancient potion confused me for awhile. Just think about how an immunizer could be made from a dragon toadstool and a catalyst. To help figure this out, remember that an ancient potion not only heals you, but increases your maximum health and stamina.**

 **Something else a lot of people tend to overlook is Sparatus's characterization in the games. Far from acting impulsively, Sparatus is moreso a drill instructor than a brute. In particular (spoiler for Mass Effect 1), when evidence is brought against Saren he is the first councilor to acknowledge it.**

 **To answer a question that came up about the release of Monster Hunter World, I was a little blindsided by the story elements introduced in Monster Hunter World, however the New World sounds similar to the area of Earth quarantined in an attempt to contain the Elder Dragons. In fact, the quarantine plan wouldn't really work unless it included the New World in it. Otherwise, the monsters introduced in Monster Hunter World exist as normal on Earth. The slingers and other mechanics in Monster Hunter World are part of a style of fighting unique to the Hunters that stayed near the New World, equivalent to how Kaiden is adept at fighting underwater from his native hunting grounds being Moga Village.**


End file.
